This Chassahowitzka riverfront cabin,
owned by Pinellas County residents,
was photographed by Benjamin Dimmitt
in 1987. When Dimmitt photographed the same
cabin 28 years later, that once was almost
hidden by vegetation, it was starkly out in
the open.
Dimmitt’s 2014 photograph shows a stark contrast
between the river bend’s former lushness and its later
blighted state.
If you have any questions about the people, places or things in the
Tampa Bay area, please send them to “Ask Margaret” at Tampa Bay
Magazine, 2531 Landmark Drive, Suite 101, Clearwater, Florida
33761. We regret that not all questions can be answered.
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This Chassahowitzka River bend on Florida’s
Gulf Coast was lush and inviting when
Benjamin Dimmitt photographed it in 2004.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Noted photographer Benjamin Dimmitt, who
grew up in the Tampa Bay area and now resides near Asheville,
North Carolina, documented the affects of saltwater intrusion in
the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge over the years using
a medium film camera. His over 30 limited edition selenium-toned
gelatin silver prints that he made by hand in a darkroom will be
exhibited May 6th through June 11th at Clayton Galleries in Tampa.
MARCH/APRIL 2016 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 125