An AP photographer finds a dog resting amid the roots of thirsty trees in the drought-plagued Everglades

Associated Press

06-06-2025

MIAMI (AP) — Rebecca Blackwell has worked for The Associated Press since 2007, based first in Senegal, then Mexico and now Miami. Here's what she had to say about this extraordinary photo.Why this photo?
I wanted to shoot pictures that show how above normal drought conditions were impacting areas of the Everglades, a vast wetland ecosystem at the heart of South Florida. I spent many hours over two days driving around to investigate different parts of the Everglades for signs of dryness. Lower water levels were evident in many places, but the grasses and bushes that blanket the terrain can make the effects difficult to see.
How I made this photo
To get some local expertise, I reached out to Marshall Jones, an airboat tour operator I met a few months earlier who grew up in the Everglades and is involved in environmental protection. I asked him if he would be willing to show me the impact the drought was having in his area. With his airboat tours shut down due to low water levels, he graciously spent two hours walking me through the surrounding area, showing me where depleted canals were growing grass on exposed mud, where normally waterlogged marsh was now dry enough to walk on and where waterways typically navigable year-round by airboat had completely dried up. When we got to this pond apple forest that usually sat in a foot or more of water, I knew I wanted to find a picture there. There was one group of trees set closely together that drew my attention right away, but without another element it wasn't going to make a picture, so I continued following Jones and his two dogs as they explored the area. When one of the dogs went over to lie down on the wet patch of soil amid the trees I'd spotted, I circled back to the framing I'd seen before and knew I had a shot.
Why this photo works
The root structure of the pond apple trees is so visually striking, and this group has a really nice symmetry. The directional tree roots and the patch of sunlight all point your attention to the middle of the frame where the dog is lying. I don't like the trash present in the shot, but it was still relevant to the overall meaning since it had been exposed by the low waters.
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