Photographic essay: 'Elegy for Wetlands' author makes stop at Midtown Reader
The fingerprints of climate change are evident in escalating global temperatures, rising sea levels, warming oceans and increasingly frequent and extreme weather events.
A new coastal photographic essay by landscape photographer and activist Benjamin Dimmitt documents decades of ecological ruin. His vision starkly reveals the impact of global warming including, sea level rise and storm surge along the Gulf of Mexico coastline as a cautionary tale for residents of all coastal communities.
In "An Unflinching Look: Elegy for Wetlands," (University of Georgia Press, $34.95), Dimmitt conducts a forthright exploration of a unique North American ecosystem experiencing decline.
As part of his Florida book tour, Dimmitt will be doing an event at Midtown Reader Bookstore, 1123 Thomasville Road, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, with Susan Cerulean, a writer, naturalist, and advocate who has lived on and listened to the northern Gulf of Mexico and its wild birds and islands since 1981.
His study is meticulously executed through the lens of 85 duotone photographs, complemented by rigorous scientific analysis and critical interpretation. The focal point of the project lies approximately 70 miles north of Tampa within the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's Gulf Coast.
The work poignantly captures the environmental challenges besieging the region's natural history and delves into the imminent fate of its wetlands.
Through "An Unflinching Look," Dimmitt embarked on a photographic journey surrounded by marred sawgrass savannas, hardwood forests and spring creeks. Aiming his cameras at the mounting ecosystem loss, he watched a once lush Florida wetlands unravel.
Though the original purpose of his essay was to pay homage to this wildlife refuge’s splendor, he instead observed a devastated landscape with a profound sense of reverence as it endured grave devastation. Focusing on a cherished, remote area, Dimmitt chose to bear witness to the environmental ruin unfolding there.
Years later, Dimmitt rephotographed scenes that he initially photographed as much as 40 years earlier to offer a poignant visual narrative of ecosystem loss. Damage from rising sea levels goes far beyond borders, impacting economies, ecosystems, and wildlife.
Recent hurricanes Ian and Idalia exacerbated the complicated water issues at the Chassahowitzka by pushing saltwater into wetlands, forcing wildlife to higher ground, and causing the demise of salt-intolerant plant life.
With his camera, Dimmitt confirms the ecosystem’s decline brought on by rising seas, warming temperatures and mismanagement of natural resources. Low-lying coastal communities around the United States and around the world should be alarmed and activated before the same fate floods their shores.
Contributing writers to "An Unflinching Look" portray a "complex and fragile ecosystem." Susan Cerulean — the author of several books about Florida’s natural environment — provides a foreword that tackles loss and the complicated water and environmental issues raised by the rising sea levels at Chassahowitzka.
If you go
What: Benjamin Dimmitt in conversation with Susan Cerulean for talk/book signing
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22
Where: Midtown Reader, 1123 Thomasville Road
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Elegy for Wetlands' book tour makes stop in Tallahassee
