Below a flock of butterflies and a few feet from a mammoth skeleton hang 15 windows into Florida’s Nature Coast.
If you don’t stop and take a look, you may miss it. Rumor has it these windows will soon be obscured by oil and development.
The images photographer Eric Zamora has captured of the Nature Coast are on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History. The gallery, “Life on the Edge: The Story of Florida’s Nature Coast,” is on display until Aug. 8.
“I was born and raised in Florida,” Zamora said. “Working and helping to protect Florida is very close to my heart.”
Zamora delineates the Nature Coast as the area from St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge near Tallahassee to northern Pasco County. This 240-mile stretch of coastline, aside from a few small communities, is essentially undeveloped.
He said he wants to make a difference by promoting conservation and sustainable development through his photography but stressed that he is not anti-development.
“Conservation is a part of development, it doesn’t necessarily have to be associated with building,” he said. “If you create a new National Wildlife Refuge you’re developing and expanding.”
In an effort to document the pristine Nature Coast, Zamora paddled the 105-mile Big Bend Paddling Trail, located on the western coast of north central Florida, in nine days. He plans to finish paddling the 240-mile stretch of the Nature Coast but is waiting to raise more funding.
Zamora has been working on the project for two years. After a four-month stint at the Florida Museum of Natural History, the exhibit is moving to Sarasota.
The 15 photographs on display at the museum capture the cultural heritage, landscapes and wildlife of the Nature Coast.
“That’s really my purpose with my conservation photography,” Zamora said. “It’s to give a face to an issue.”
Zamora said he hasn’t been back to the Nature Coast since early March when he was on the Withlacoochee River. Although his conservation project will eventually end, he said it will always have value.
Prints from Zamora’s “Life on the Edge” gallery and others can be purchased online at ericzamora.com. Details about price and size can be found on the website.
