Photos Reveal Hidden Secrets as Mangrove Habitat Recovers from Hurricane

Barry Fellman’s Mangrove Coast photographs reveal a hidden realm of South Florida’s Biscayne Bay coastline. New large format prints from Fellman’s multi-year project are now on exhibit at Biscayne Bay National Park’s Dante Fascell Visitor Center. The photos explore the rejuvenation of the shoreline areas hard hit by Hurricane Andrew 25 years ago. They reveal the unexpected beauty, rhythms and patterns of South Florida’s spectacular mangrove habitats.

Fellman’s photos seduce you, inviting you close to understand them. As you approach, basic notions of scale and distance remain a mystery until your nose is nearly pressed against the surface. Then the images clarify into familiar forms of sea grasses, shells and shallow tide pools. You realize you are looking at wondrous and fantastic views of the shoreline by the beach.

The images portray the spirit of the place by connecting with our own appreciation of the natural environment. Fellman’s aim is to strengthen these connections, which are crucial to preserving the mangrove habitat, the lynchpin of our community’s natural landscape.

The mangrove ecosystem provides shoreline protection and serves as the economic base for the recreational and commercial activities that have made our County prosper. It recycles nutrients and is the breeding and feeding grounds for hundreds os species, nurturing a wide range of marine life, amphibians, birds, and mammals.

Barry Fellman has served as curator of photography at institutions in Miami and New York and is currently director of Miami’s Center for Visual Communication. His photographs have been exhibited at museums and public venues in South Florida and nationally. He is a Silver Knight awardee and is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.