christian
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Industry | Arts |
| Location | Cedar Key, FL, United States |
| Introduction | These photos are a tribute to Cedar Key, Florida and its WaterWomen and fishermen. Jeanine Beckham learned her left hand from her right by building crab traps. She still recalls one of the first lessons of the skill. “You have to start twisting the wire from the left, or the trap will buckle and become deformed.” Such are the secrets of the women who were raised crabbing and fishing the waters of Cedar Key, a small island community on the west coast of Florida. People have fished there for generations, but when commercial gillnetting was banned in 1994, they turned to clam farming, learning to read the bottom with their feet, and heaving huge bags of clams onto boats. I had the privilege of watching these women race their boats in and out of obscure channel markers to make a new kind of living from the water. Strong and unassuming, they are an exceptional window into a proud way of life. |