A photograph of a manatee struggling to breathe in the Indian River Lagoon during the toxic algae bloom of Summer 2016 sits at the start of Lynne Buchanan’s book of photographs entitled Florida’s Changing Waters: a Beautiful World in Peril. published in 2019 by George F. Thompson Publishing.
A leaf decked out in yellow and orange fall colors floats silently by while the manatee struggles to lift its snout and blow bubbles. The water is viscous, an ugly jungle green/olive color. The manatee has scars on its back from encounters with boat propellers.
I kept staring at this photograph, unwilling to turn the page. It spoke to me, a haunting, beautiful and a terrible testimony to the water loss and damage done to the chain of life by human impact.
And Buchanan was there. She captured that moment and many more with a total of 231 photographs inside this artfully presented hardcover coffee table book. And that is just part of the story – Buchanan has thoughtfully been photographing waterways for many years.
In grade school in Sarasota she learned of Ponce de Leon and his search for the fountain of youth. Ah, back then, the nearby waters were crystal clear, a blue green shimmer that seemed endless and beneath the water sea life thrived. Surely this coastal environment spoke of paradise and the fountain of youth.
But red tides and algae blooms threatened this water paradise. She and a friend were given permission to leave school once a week and do water analysis tests for a science project.
Water issues flow through Lynne Buchanan’s work every since along with the issues of climate change and nature as a path to spiritual transformation and more. Yes, it would be correct to call her an environmental photographer and activist. I prefer to call her a Water Warrior.
We need Water Warriors like Cynthia Barnett, John Moran and Lynne Buchanan to be on the front lines of documenting the dramatic changes to water ecosystems worldwide as population explodes. We need their clarion calls.
I do appreciate the coffee table aspect of lush large photographs in this book but be aware this big volume is at its heart a call to action, a lament for what has been lost and a challenge to the viewer to turn the page and get involved.
Particularly evocative for me are the photographs taken in forest glens, out of the way places seldom seen by urban dwellers, where streams meander, tree roots reach into the water and grip the world below. Notes on the photographs appear in the back of the book. I read them all, not just to find out locations but the notes contain her thoughts, what drew her to this place and some of its history.
For bigger picture views of the environmental issues read the three essays found in the front of the book:
Florida’s Changing Waters: From the Fountain of Youth to Environmental Devastation by Lynne Buchanan
Memory, Reflections on Our Janus Nature by Jason M. Evans
Through the Looking Glass by Robert L. Knight.
Buy this book for yourself or your favorite environmental warrior. Buy another copy for your library. Take it to your book club. Discuss. Digest then take action. A beautiful world is in peril.
Note: I was given a review copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.