Tampa gets a front-row seat to one of the South’s most breathtaking wild places on Wednesday, November 4, when the Tampa Bay History Center welcomes award-winning National Geographic photographer Mac Stone for Florida Conversations, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in TECO Hall.
Stone has spent more than a decade photographing the last old-growth cypress swamps of North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, and he will share the stories and images behind his new book, Cypress: The Last Old-Growth Swamps. His photographs travel from ghost orchids blooming high in ancient cypress trees to panthers moving quietly through the wetlands below, revealing ecosystems that have endured for centuries and are increasingly rare.
A trained biologist, conservationist, producer, writer and naturalist, Stone is also the author of Everglades: America’s Wetland and American Amazon, and he worked as a producer and cinematographer on the American Amazon IMAX film and PBS NATURE series. At the History Center, he will explore these remarkable landscapes as living archives of deep time, and consider what their survival means for the future of the South.
Tickets are just $5 and free for History Center members, with advance registration required. The program is presented in person at the History Center, 801 Water Street in Tampa, and virtually through Zoom, with a recording posted on YouTube afterward. Florida Conversations is supported by the University of South Florida Endowment, USF Libraries and a generous gift from Shelley Blood.
Photo: Mac Stone, courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center
