Crescent Rivers: Waterways of Floridas Big Bend
by Todd Bertolaet
Category: Nature

The Big Bend is a crescent-shaped coastline where the peninsula of Florida merges with the underbelly of the southeastern states. From Tampa Bay to the Ochlockonee River, the land meets the sea in an ecologically abundant system of swamps, salt marshes, and wet cabbage-palm forests. For more than a decade, Todd Bertolaet has hiked, paddled, and waded through the region to capture these panoramic images that convey its botanical richness, primordial environs, and changing waterways. As Ansel Adams and others used wide-angle photography to present the magical play of light and shadow in the American West, Bertolaet uses a panoramic camera to document this vastly different landscape. Where the western images delight by their grand scale and sweep, these resonate by capturing the subtle intimacy of the landscape, as well as sensual illumination and shading across water and vegetation. Bertolaet's subjects are dark, blackwater rivers like the Sopchoppy and Econfina, crystal spring-fed streams such as the Wakulla and Wacissa, and the marshes, hammocks, and swamps through which they meander to the sea. The book's 55 duotone images offer those familiar with the area a reminder of the pleasures of a recent canoe trip, day hike, or a birding or fishing expedition. For newcomers, these pictures are wide-open windows onto one of the last pristine areas of the state.