Mac Stone is a National Geographic photographer and Explorer and his images help tell the complex stories of wetlands and wilderness through the wildlife and people who rely upon them. Photographing for publications and organizations around the world, Stone's roots come from the swamps, estuaries, springs and Everglades of his home state. An author, speaker, and senior fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers, he strives to expose the dynamic relationship between mankind and the natural world to drive conservation outcomes. His images have been widely published and have won international acclaim in the most prestigious competitions. His first book, Everglades: America’s Wetland, published by University Florida Press, is in its second printing and his TED talk has been viewed more than a million times. He is currently producing a two-part series for PBS Nature highlighting the biodiversity of southern rivers and forests. He recently published a limited-edition fine art book titled FOR EVERGLADES in collaboration with the Everglades Foundation where he proudly serves as a board member. He hopes that his images and advocacy will one day help usher in a restored Everglades for the next generation. 

ARTIST STATEMENT
Blackwater rivers, deep cypress sloughs, towering mangroves, and tropical wildernesses comprise the beating heart of South Florida. In a region shaped by hurricanes, fires, droughts, and floods, animals and plants are pushed to their limits, forced to evolve in dramatic and creative ways. I find art in survival—the way dwarf mangroves arrange like candy buttons in the southern Everglades; how a flock of skimmers avoids colliding by flying exactly a wing’s length apart; how, in order to prevent fatal conflict with one another, bears have taught trees to "talk"; or the way ancient cypress trees, ravaged by the element sand spared from the saw for their twisted frames, emerge defiantly from tannic bayous—a symbol of the obstinance of southern swamps. Just like the ecosystem that defines them, the plants and animals of the River of Grass are distinct. The Everglades is full of small evolutionary miracles and embellished adaptations, and it has been my life’s greatest pleasure to find, spotlight, and immortalize them. I celebrate these often-maligned landscapes for their inherent beauty, their ecological importance, and their stark contrast to the modern and manufactured landscapes on the periphery. To achieve these photographs, I wade deep into the swamps late at night, set up infrared camera traps, or charter helicopters to reach remote areas of the Everglades. These images, creatively lit and composed, capture single moments in time, held to strict journalistic standards, and are not products of digital manipulation. What draws me obsessively to this place is a somewhat maniacal compunction to do it justice. It is rewarding to toil after images for weeks or months on end, to come close, to miss, and—better prepared—return once (or thrice) more. We cherish what we earn, and the Everglades is an unrepentant meritocracy. It rewards those who beat the glow of civil twilight, who remain under the stars, who push-pole the flats, who endure the summers, and who slog through the sloughs. To those who build sweat equity and forfeit a little blood, it bestows glimpses of its wild heart. Through a sort of osmosis- driven proximity, those who venture here can even absorb a bit of that feral freedom, too. Humanity needs touchstones like the Everglades. 

For more of his work, visit www.macstonephoto.com If you’re interested in purchasing a piece please see the concierge, call 305-531-6100 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for more information.

Images used with permission of artist.