Bertolaet, Todd. Crescent Rivers: Waterways of Florida’s Big Bend by Todd Bertolaet.

University of Florida Press, 1998. First edition, first printing. Fine with near fine protected dust jacket.  64 pages. Black and white panoramic photographs taken of rivers in northwest Florida in the Big Bend, one to a page. At time of publication, Bertolaet taught photography at Florida A&M. Summary:

Crescent Rivers: Waterways of Florida’s Big Bend (1988) is a focused photographic study by Todd Bertolaet that explores the unique, primitive landscape of the Florida Panhandle. Part of the University of Florida Press Florida Sandhills series, the book serves as both an artistic portfolio and an environmental record of the "Big Bend" region—the marshy, undeveloped stretch where the peninsula curves into the Panhandle.

Core Themes and Content

• The "Forgotten Coast": Bertolaet focuses on the blackwater rivers, spring-fed runs, and tidal creeks of the Big Bend, including the Aucilla, Econfina, and Steinhatchee rivers.

• Large-Format Precision: Using a 5x7 large-format camera, Bertolaet captures the intricate textures of the limestone outcroppings, tangled cypress knees, and the "mirror-like" stillness of the slow-moving water. This high-resolution approach gives the images a hyper-real, almost tactile quality.

• Nature without Narrative: Unlike travel photography, these images are often devoid of people, buildings, or boats. Bertolaet presents the landscape as it might have looked centuries ago—an ancient, shifting wilderness of mud, water, and prehistoric flora.

Artistic Style

The book is noted for its tonal subtlety. Working in black and white, Bertolaet navigates the difficult lighting of the Florida swamps—the deep shadows of the hardwood hammocks against the blinding glare of the midday sun—to create a "crescent" of visual harmony.