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Florida State Route 50
Florida State Route 50 bisects the state midway up the Florida Peninsula. It crosses the state in nearly a straight line from Titusville on the east coast, to Weeki Wachee on the Gulf, a distance of 121 miles. Many Florida environments are found along State Route 50: The space coast with its beaches and space shuttles; the swampy wilds of the St. Johns River plain; the sprawling Orlando Metropolitan area; rolling hill country around Clermont; the densely wooded Withlacoochee Forest; several small rural communities some of which are agricultural centers; picturesque Brooksville; and the bustling Gulf Coast. At Weeki Wachee Florida SR-50 ends, however, the road continues as Cortez Boulevard until it meets the Gulf of Mexico at Gulfport Park. The trip across the state from coast to coast takes between 3 and 4 hours depending on traffic.
The Project
The four photographers that came together for this project, Linda Carpenter, William Carpenter, Jon Manchester and Bob Michaels, all live in the Greater Orlando area and share a love of Central Florida and it's cultural and natural history. They felt that State Route 50 would provide opportunities to capture at least a portion of the uniqueness and diversity of Florida. Their common thread is The Crealde School of Art where they have variously taught and taken classes. Recently they all participated in an independent study class where the genesis of this project came about.
The Exhibit Photographs
Each photographer has contributed between ten and twelve images to the collection. And each photographer has an individual approach to the subject. Both color and black and white images are represented. The choice between monochrome and color is one part of each photographer's identity and mode of expression.
The exhibit is presented as a whole work, not by showing each photographer's work individually. From the inception of the project, the photographers felt one of the strong points of such a collaboration would be the individual viewpoints each would contribute, serving to make the whole more varied and stimulating.