As a native of South Florida, the Everglades is an ecosystem that has shaped my own history. The Everglades is a series of ecosystems that thrive on freshwater flowing south from Lake Okeechobee. Agriculture, urban development, and a complex series of canals have redirected and polluted the freshwater flowing into the Everglades. To date, more than half of the Everglades have been repurposed for urban and agricultural use. It should also be noted that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill threatens the coast of the Everglades. By making these photographs, I hope to preserve an essence of the Everglades, a land we are rapidly losing without knowing the full extent of our loss.