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Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril
“Buchanan’s beautifully rendered volume is a must-have for environmentalists and conservationists.” ― Publishers Weekly
Lynne Buchanan began photographing Florida’s inland waters to create artistic records of her connection with those waters and to learn lessons from being in the present moment and aligning with the flow of life. The more time she spent photographing waterways in her native Florida, the more she noticed what was being damaged and lost due to human impact. She resolved to draw attention to the situation through her photography and to work with water-quality and environmental advocates, from members of the Waterkeeper Alliance to Native American citizens fighting to preserve the integrity of their ancestral lands and drinking water.
The result is Florida’s Changing Waters , which not only showcases the beauty, diversity, and complexity of Florida’s waters, but also documents the negative effects of agricultural and industrial pollution, a growing population with its urban growth and land development, and climate change on Florida’s inland and coastal waters and springs. Though her work is place specific, the book reveals the interconnected and global nature of environmental problems. Indeed, Florida’s fragile springs, wetlands, rivers, and coastal waters can be considered a tragic and powerful example of what is happening to aquatic systems elsewhere in the nation and world as a result of unchecked human action.
Buchanan’s photographs invite viewers to consider their personal relationship to water and encourage better stewardship of this vital––and finite––resource. They are also a call to action to find more effective ways to preserve these waterways for both their natural beauty and essential role in our survival.
Lynne Buchanan began photographing Florida’s inland waters to create artistic records of her connection with those waters and to learn lessons from being in the present moment and aligning with the flow of life. The more time she spent photographing waterways in her native Florida, the more she noticed what was being damaged and lost due to human impact. She resolved to draw attention to the situation through her photography and to work with water-quality and environmental advocates, from members of the Waterkeeper Alliance to Native American citizens fighting to preserve the integrity of their ancestral lands and drinking water.
The result is Florida’s Changing Waters , which not only showcases the beauty, diversity, and complexity of Florida’s waters, but also documents the negative effects of agricultural and industrial pollution, a growing population with its urban growth and land development, and climate change on Florida’s inland and coastal waters and springs. Though her work is place specific, the book reveals the interconnected and global nature of environmental problems. Indeed, Florida’s fragile springs, wetlands, rivers, and coastal waters can be considered a tragic and powerful example of what is happening to aquatic systems elsewhere in the nation and world as a result of unchecked human action.
Buchanan’s photographs invite viewers to consider their personal relationship to water and encourage better stewardship of this vital––and finite––resource. They are also a call to action to find more effective ways to preserve these waterways for both their natural beauty and essential role in our survival.
232 pages, Hardcover
Published April 17, 2019
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 9, 2022
As a teenager in the 1970s I was enthralled by the beauty that surrounded me, the blazing brilliance and sheer violence of a sky in Summer, the many moods reflected in the waters that now punctuated my life. A New Englander transplanted into a very different kind of wild. Florida memories are vivid in sights, smells and sounds, and the visuals have fed my brain and body through life’s changes.
For the past couple of decades Florida has been gravely injured and the political scene has contributed to the decline wholeheartedly. The toxic algae blooms are an everyday occurrence, in large part due to the ever expanding lawns that so many people consider to be desirable status symbols. The manatees, known worldwide as sweet and gentle giants of the waters, are literally starving to death. Sewage spills and phosphate mining “accidents” have contaminated Tampa Bay, for example, to the point where it is no longer newsworthy.
This is a topic that I could say so much more about, and nature itself is embedded in my identity.
View these pages of photos and hope that the documentation will inspire people to act in the best interest of all of the living creatures, including ourselves, that depend on these systems for sustenance, mind and body.
For the past couple of decades Florida has been gravely injured and the political scene has contributed to the decline wholeheartedly. The toxic algae blooms are an everyday occurrence, in large part due to the ever expanding lawns that so many people consider to be desirable status symbols. The manatees, known worldwide as sweet and gentle giants of the waters, are literally starving to death. Sewage spills and phosphate mining “accidents” have contaminated Tampa Bay, for example, to the point where it is no longer newsworthy.
This is a topic that I could say so much more about, and nature itself is embedded in my identity.
View these pages of photos and hope that the documentation will inspire people to act in the best interest of all of the living creatures, including ourselves, that depend on these systems for sustenance, mind and body.
October 9, 2019
Lovely, important, succinct essays at the beginning, followed by a series of photos--both grim and hopeful, disturbing and beautiful.
February 12, 2020
Beautiful photography, but scary message about human pollutants of Florida's waters, e.g., phosphorous run off from the sugar industry and agricultural operations.
November 14, 2021
"Florida's Changing Waters stunningly illustrates how Florida's delicate inland, estuarine and marine waters are being irreparably altered." Find my full review in
The Florida Book Review
.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews