On Sept. 8, Deering Estate held an event in the Great Hall for their two artists in residence: Tony Fernandez and Jorge Gonzales Graupera.
The artist’s photographs captured a discourse concerning the unparalleled connection between nature and the observer. The exhibitions are an interpretation of botanist John Kunkel Small’s book, “From Eden to Sahara: Florida’s Tragedy. This well-known piece of literature in the world of environmental protection served as the exhibit’s inspiration. It is the translation between what Florida’s ecosystems looked like before the societal intervention we see today, and the surplus of vegetation that expanded across Florida in the early 1920s.
Fernandez and Graupera’s mission was to encapsulate the softer and almost untouched pieces of Deering Estate. They conveyed this through an assorted collection of photographs displaying the diverse beauty and color palettes of Florida’s mangroves, pines, trails and salt marshes. The exhibit isnot only a gateway for expression but a graceful representation and transparency of this ecosystem from a more compound point of view.
Graupera grew up in Hialeah, where he spent most of his time at the beginning of his career.
“The photos I was always interested in as a photographer when I started … We’re mostly a lot of urban photographers,” Graupera said.
Graupera goes on to explainthat he took a lot of inspiration from photographers who focused on industrial character and dreary skies such as street photographer Garry Winogrand.
Tony Fernandez studied at the University of Florida and the Institute of Design in Chicago as well as completing a Ph.D. at Michigan State University. He is currently an instructor of photography and cinematography. His inspiration for the “Witnessing Eden” exhibit came from Deering Estate’s mangroves.
“I took solo treks throughout the 400 here and initially I took vistas that I didn’t like and then little by little I started focusing on mangroves and mangrove roots,” Fernandez said.
This exhibition is not only germane to the audience but for the photographer as well. It is the kind of exhibit that is a deep dive into these artists’ differing points of view on the same concepts of natural beauty.
