Book Looks Back At 50 Years Of Aerial Photography

by Debra Lawless

            We all love those crisp, clear days of summer on Cape Cod. But Spencer Kennard of Chatham, the author, with the late Richard Kelsey, of "Cape Cod and the Islands From Above: 50 Years of Airviews" (Schiffer Publishing Company), loves them for a special reason. Clear days are the only times he can photograph the Cape from the air.

            "We've had a lot of soupy weather," Kennard said during a recent interview from his home. During some summers Kennard might count four or five clear flying days in mid-June and early July. And sometimes such a day seems to come out of the blue. "If I could rearrange my plans for anything, I'd say 'I've got to go up.'"

            Kennard grew up in Lenox and first came to Chatham during the summer of 1968. He met his future wife, Elizabeth Gillis of South Chatham, while he was working at the Chatham Beach and Tennis Club. After marrying, the Kennards moved to the North Shore where Kennard worked in a large photography studio in Woburn. But by the mid-1980s the pair wanted to return to Chatham, and they eventually "struck up a conversation" with the legendary Kelsey, who was thinking of retiring and selling his business revolving around the aerial photos he had been shooting since the 1950s.

            "I loved aerials," Kennard says. "I had never done them before." Kennard eased into the business, which sells aerial prints from a gallery at 465 Main St., by taking wedding photos and portraits. Kelsey continued flying.

            You might say that Kelsey's part of the business held a glamour not found in the work on the ground. Kelsey, who was known as "the sky king," flew his own Piper Cub, and shot the photos out the window.

            "He held the flying stick between his legs to get the plane tilting the way he wanted it to go," Kennard recalls. The higher the plane's altitude, the more room the pilot has to maneuver. Kennard says he still marvels at many of Kelsey's photographs taken at lower altitudes.

            Back in the 1950s Kelsey shot black and white five-by-five-inch negatives on a Kodak K-24 aerial camera. Although this heavy camera is usually mounted in the "belly" of the plane, Kelsey often hand-held his.

            Kelsey died in a plane crash in December 1987, a couple of years after the pair became partners, and Kennard took to the skies.

            These days Kennard is a tad less daring than Kelsey. He doesn't have his pilot's license, so he delegates the flying of the airplane to a pilot. They take off from Chatham Airport and Kennard shoots the aerials with a Pentax 67 which uses film. Although he feels it is only with film that he gets the colors he wants, he will use a digital camera for real estate shots.

            Unlike most artists and photographers working on the ground, Kennard seeks out those hours in the middle of the day from about 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. — "a good shooting window — " to take his photographs. He likes bright light, without moody shadows. Sometimes he coordinates his flight to the tides for a certain effect.

            The book is divided into seven chapters, beginning with the islands and continuing on to Provincetown. The photographs are in both black and white and color and include much of Kelsey's early work as well as Kennard's later work.

            Those familiar with Chatham will want to study the "now and then" photos clearly illustrating Chatham's volatile shoreline over the past 50 years. "New Break Patriots Day Nor'easter 2007" is one dramatic scene, as is the contrast between Monomoy Island in 1960 (including the wreck of the Pendleton) and Monomoy 44 years later. "Nature's storms are constantly changing the island's shape. Monomoy is the most consistently appearing landmark in our airviews," Kennard writes.

            He shows us Stage Harbor during a winter freeze during the summer. A chapter titled "Abstracts" shows beautiful shapes in sand and cloud like toasted marshmallows. Subtle blues, whites and yellows form patterns like fish scales.

            A dramatic series of shots from Monomoy to Provincetown illustrates the changing coastline from 1961 to 2007. "Clear days are needed for this shot" at six-to-10,000 feet, Kennard notes.

            In another chapter, "Things you see while flying," are photos of the Monomoy Lighthouse, 1966; a regatta in Pleasant Bay; whales; and the First Night flag celebration at Chatham Light in 2001. We see "a Russian trawler that Dick Kelsey spotted off Chatham. These photos caused quite the sensation back then," Kennard said.  There are also photos of the Pendleton shipwreck. The ship lies on its side, cut in half amidships, casting its sideways shadow in the choppy water.

            Harwich is well represented with shots of the Herring River, the Belmont Inn in 1964, and Wychmere Harbor in 1981 and 26 years later.

            Kennard presents the book to the memory of Kelsey, "the ultimate sky-king" and also dedicates it to Elizabeth "who thankfully has both feet on the ground."

            Kennard hopes this will be the first of several books highlighting the aerial photographs of Kelsey-Kennard Photographers. Kennard will sign copies of his book at Where the Sidewalk Ends Books on Thursday, Aug. 7 at 2 p.m.