You’ve seen the Connecticut River—but not like this.

Vermont photographer and drone specialist Caleb Kenna spent a year shooting Dartmouth’s small portion of New England’s longest river. His bird’s-eye images offer a sometimes disorienting, low-altitude take on the waterway, which serves as a western boundary for the campus and a line between two states—a natural and essential component of the College since its beginning. 

An eye in the sky can bring surprises. “While the terrain where I fly is often well-known to me, I can rarely predict what kinds of compositions I’ll walk away with,” says Kenna. “There is a soaring sense of excitement and discovery when ascending over familiar landscapes.”

From the magnificent fall foliage along its riverbanks to the hope of a spring thaw, from its warm summer breezes to its rock-solid freeze in winter, the Connecticut has long served Dartmouth as a classroom and laboratory, a source of meditation and inspiration, a playground for sport and hijinks, and a pleasing panorama of lavish beauty. 

More of Caleb Kenna’s drone photography can be found on his website and his Instagram account. His book, Art From Above, will be published in the fall. Quotations are from author W.D. Wetherell, editor of This American River. 

Click here to view additional photos that were not featured in our print magazine.

“The Connecticut is a very American river... it was and remains a river of education.”

“The river is a centerpiece of New England and has been for five centuries.”