Peter Cram is a Lowcountry lad, having spent most of his life in and around Bluffton, SC. His New York grandfather bought land in the area in the 1890’s to cater to his love of hunting, and it was here Peter spent his first years, surrounded by nature and the odd cow and donkey, dogs and many chickens. At an early age he was drawn to the water and boats, and realized he preferred shooting a camera to a shotgun. After attending schools locally and in Florida, Peter studied photography at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, NV.
He returned to Bluffton and became involved with the Cousteau Institute for several years whilst living on an island across the May River from Bluffton. His knowledge of the local waterways and dolphin habitat assisted in making a film about dolphin strand feeding for the Cousteau Society. This was a great influence on his interest in photography as well as studying the natural world.
Over the years at one time or another he has worked around the local waters as a crabber, shrimper and fishing guide. As a licensed captain he worked delivering boats for a while which led him to buying a cruising trawler and spending a year with his wife and three children cruising up the West Coast to Alaska, back down to and through the Panama Canal, thence up to Maine and back to Bluffton, where he now lives.
In addition to photography – over the years he has had many exhibitions locally and exhibited in New York – he spends much of his time on the water kayaking, paddleboarding or sailing. Several years ago he became a Clemson Master Naturalist and is a docent leading birding walks for the Coastal Discovery Museum.
