Visions of Florida - Tapa dura

Woody Walters is one of Florida's premier fine-art photographers. In this collection of his pictures of the land and its people Walters captures images, in infinite shadings of black and white, that transport viewers on a light trip through his native state. Just as the color white reflects all the rays of the spectrum, Walters' photographs of nature radiate his range of vision. From morning mist in Tallahassee to lightning streaks during an evening storm on Longboat Key, he uncovers the delicacy and power of nature, and he laments its violation in the name of progress. "There is a hidden richness in the sparse landscape, the flat terrain, and the tropical marshes that makes Florida quietly beautiful, " he writes. "But the beauty we see today is only a shadow of yesterday. This land was left to us in trust. We must protect it for our children." His compassionate pictures of people portray the face - sometimes the price - of survival on this land. Walters says he photographs Florida as a labor of love; the rigors of his craft test this affection. Because he prefers to work with a large camera, he frequently hauls sixty pounds of equipment in a knapsack. Swarms of mosquitoes often force him to douse himself with an equivalent amount of insect repellent. Waist-high muck is not uncommon. Rain is inevitable. But none of that matters when he snaps the shutter, letting in light to fix an image already formed in his mind, an image that becomes his personal vision of Florida.