Photographer Documents Florida’s Enchanting Yet Fragile Underwater Ecosystem

These photographs were made in a geographical location that is both seductive and sickening. This place is Florida, home to some of the most unique and breathtaking ecosystems in the world. But it is no secret that Florida is a victim of its own allure. Along with these remarkable environments, it is screaming with out of control development. I am not interested in making pictures of what created this mayhem; it’s all over the media. We all know what post-Disney strip malls, towering condominiums and McMansions look like. I want to show what you haven’t seen.—Karen Glaser

Photographer Karen Glaser documents the poetic stories of Florida streams and riverbeds in her series Springs. Each image is flooded with the ephemeral, rich depths of the ecosystems and wildlife that flourish just beneath the surface. The series is intentionally shot to be categorically vague, drifting somewhere between landscape, documentary and painterly visions. Glaser captures each scene using only the natural light that filters through from the world above and each photo is completely untouched by digital manipulation. Springs and Glaser’s corresponding series Swamps is an ongoing exploration of the complex beauty threatened by our contemporary lifestyle, each messy layer of muck and mud a pulsing lifeblood of Florida’s precious natural environment.

This post was contributed by photographer and Feature Shoot Editorial Assistant Jenna Garrett.

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