QUICK TRIPS

At Baker’s Cay Resort, lounge on your balcony, sip cocktails at a tiki bar, or unwind on one of two beaches. For a taste of the Florida Keys, dine indoors or on the waterfront patio at Dry Rocks.

QUICK TRIPS CHIC Retreat

Relax in style—sans jet lag—at Baker’s Cay Resort, KEY LARGO

By Paul Rubio

With many of us rethinking international travel at the moment, the Florida Keys feel more relevant than ever as an exotic escape close to home. Lucky for us, the largest and most accessible key in the island chain, Key Largo, has been busy debuting one high-end oasis after another, transforming the iconic no-frills destination into one spiked with unfussy luxury.

A highlight of this Upper Keys redux is Baker’s Cay Resort, Key Largo, a thoughtfully designed, 200-room property cast over 13 acres of tropical groves and two white-sand beaches. Opened in 2019 as part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, the resort embraces a tasteful, modernist beach house feel with understated, whitewashed accommodations countered by colorful common areas. Nautical-inspired rooms and suites soothe with wood furniture and coastal elements. Floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces doling out dreamy views of the Florida Bay or the surrounding flora. Lobby pillars double as shelves for a lending library, with hundreds of books stacked among teak furnishings and rattan chandeliers.

On the culinary side, Calusa combines Creole and Caribbean flavors on a seafoodforward menu in a sleek, agave-speckled space overlooking the bay. Meanwhile, the wildly popular Dry Rocks fulfills tequila and taco fantasies of all proportions in a whimsical setting of barstools, beachfront swings, and pillow-strewn couches (floating above the sands by way of wooden platforms, no less).

Baker’s Cay flaunts two beautiful beaches: bustling Coconut Beach, equipped with loungers aplenty, a tiki bar, and kayaks and paddleboards for rent, and quieter Hammock Beach, an unofficial adults-only swathe where loungers lie half-submerged in the water under a canopy of hardwood hammock. There is a duo of heated swimming pools, too, and a pool bar to enhance the fun-in-the-sun experience.

For those wanting to hit the Keys’ jeweltoned waters, the resort offers activities like scuba diving, parasailing, sunset sailing, backcountry fishing, and a signature Dock to Dish program. In this half-day excursion, guests head out with famed Keys fisherman Captain Casey Scott to score the best in local catch, which is then used to create a multicourse feast.

Overall, Baker’s Cay underscores the Upper Keys’ real-time revival with its stylish decor, unbeatable waterfront setting, and personalitydriven spaces. It’s at once exciting, unpretentious, and intoxicating—the promise of a faraway island that’s only a few hours’ drive south. (bakerscay.com; hilton.com) «

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Warsaw- born fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki is best known for her iconic clothing store, Biba.

BYDESIGNWhether it’s fashion, interiors, or life in general, style icon Barbara Hulanicki knows something about reinvention Barbara Hulanicki hates the past. It’s annoying, she says. She’s done it. She wants to move on, see the unknown, and find out what everyone is wearing. Big bottoms, little bottoms—it doesn’t matter. She is an incessant peoplewatcher with a well-trained eye for what works in fashion and what is, as she might put it, rubbish. As forward-looking as the 84-year-old may be, it’s the past that has informed and fueled her very prolific present, where she continues to dream and design from her perch in South Beach, her home for the past two decades. Has her life gone exactly to plan? No. Because she doesn’t plan. “Things just sort of happen, and you pick up on what comes your way,” she says. “If you sit around and mope, then nothing happens. But if you’re constantly out there, making energy, something always comes back to you.” When the energy you create is like an uncorked bottle of fine Champagne or bold holiday fireworks, the “something” that comes back to you is nothing less than celebratory and devilishly good fun. Such is Hulanicki’s magic. BY PAIGE BOWERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIO ALMA

In addition to a wallpaper and handbag line (among other pursuits), Hulanicki is launching a new line of clothing with the U.K.-based virtual showroom creator BrandLab 360.

Born in Warsaw to Polish parents, Hulanicki grew up in Jerusalem because her father was stationed there as a diplomat. When Zionist extremists murdered him in 1948, Hulanicki’s relatively young mother had to figure out how to raise their three daughters alone.

They moved to Brighton, England, and Hulanicki soon fell in love with art, studying it in art school before working in fashion illustration. After meeting and marrying ad-man Stephen Fitz-Simon in 1961, Hulanicki opened a mail-order business in 1963 that sold her affordable clothing designs. They called it Biba’s Postal Boutique (Biba is the name of one of Hulanicki’s sisters). Its first major success came a year later, when it sold 17,000 copies of a pink gingham dress with matching headscarf. The postal boutique soon became a storefront, which became an even bigger storefront and attracted superstars like Mick Jagger, Brigitte Bardot, Barbara Streisand, and others. It was ground zero for Swinging Sixties London until it was forced to close in 1975.

Hulanicki and Fitz-Simon moved to Brazil with their son, Witold, trying to reinvent themselves with a new fashion line. But times were difficult, and they returned to London six years later. In 1989, the Rolling Stones’ Ron Wood called on Hulanicki to work on the interior design of his new nightclub in Miami. She was supposed to stay six months but never left. “When my friends ask me what I’m doing here, they don’t get it—until they come here and see it for themselves,” she says.

Hulanicki is considered a South Beach treasure, full of stories replete with chance meetings—often of the near-worshipful sort, sometimes with episodes of near-fainting. She is spotted sipping coffee at The Betsy Hotel, and those who see her are usually shocked to find that an icon of her stature has been quietly going about her business in South Beach for decades, right there, under their noses.

Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, remembers flying to Miami in 1990 to see a young female singer on his label who was shooting her first music video. He got to the set and “had a shock” because Hulanicki was there, and he had no idea why.

“There she was, doing costumes for this singer, this girl who was unknown then, and sadly to say, unknown now,” says Blackwell.

Blackwell recalls talking to Hulanicki that day—again he was awestruck, and can’t recall what he said—and then later thinking he might suggest to her that perhaps she’d like to do the interiors for The Marlin Hotel, which he had just purchased in South Beach.

“To my luck, she said, ‘Oh yes, I’d love to do that,’” says Blackwell. “That’s how we started,

“If you sit around and mope, then nothing happens. But if you’re constantly out there, making energy, something always comes back to you.”

and it was just a miracle that it even happened, and that my little hotel that she fixed up became the cornerstone of what brought back South Beach.”

Blackwell and Hulanicki continued their collaboration with his other hotels, not only in South Beach, but in the Caribbean. Hulanicki has also designed private homes in the area, and other South Florida hotels too, such as Hotel Biba in West Palm Beach. Little wonder, Blackwell says, as “she has such energy and incredible taste.”

Lesley Goldwasser, co-owner and curator at The Betsy Hotel, has vague memories of going to Biba as a 10-year-old with her mother. Decades later, she was stunned to find that the unassuming blonde who took her daily coffee at The Betsy was the very icon who made Biba the place to go. When they first met, Goldwasser wanted to do an exhibit on the Biba era, but when she got to Hulanicki’s studio and saw some of her photography, she opted to showcase her post-Biba world at the hotel instead. London 1986—Après Biba features those works and includes never-before-published pictures of the ballet A Different Set of Muscles.

“These pictures are eye-popping in terms of the color and exotic frames that she created,” says Goldwasser. “When I went through the photos in her archives, I kept finding new treasures, so it was really hard to pick which ones to use. But now, they’re in a magnificent exhibit.”

Hulanicki has a wallpaper line, a handbag line, her exhibit, and her hotel and private home designs. She captured her Biba years in A to Biba: An Autobiography of Barbara Hulanicki. She has met everyone who is anyone before they were somebody, and she usually has a charming story to tell about it. She is currently doing fashion illustrations for a high-end line (but further details are under wraps). Just knowing she is doing it is titillating enough.

And now, she’s launching a new line of clothes with virtual showroom creator BrandLab 360, called HULA by Barbara Hulanicki— another partnership that was born out of a chance meeting.

“We were lucky to meet Barbara during Miami Fashion Week 2019,” says Jennifer Drury, co-founder of BrandLab360, which is based in the United Kingdom. “We had been invited to talk as part of a panel discussing sustainability in the fashion industry, and Barbara had come along to observe. After the event, she approached us with her compliments on the BrandLab360 platform and suggested a collaboration. We were thrilled at the idea and keen to get started straight away.”

Drury says Hulanicki has been a hands-on partner, often waking up at 4 a.m. Miami time to FaceTime with the BrandLab360 team for the HULA campaign’s photo shoot.

“She gave us her creative input, and of course, provided us with her usual humorous entertainment,” says Drury.

Pandemic aside, Hulanicki says she is always busy doing the things she loves. And she says she has just as much energy as she did at 18.

“I love being the age I am,” she says. “Men go a bit soggy as they get older. But women get this huge energy. I look at some of the young ones, and I kind of think you have to go through it and work it out yourself to get the knowledge and experience. I imagine it would save us all some time if you didn’t have to go through all that. But I did. And this is the most wonderful time of my life.” «

It Takes Two

Feeling like the world has gone through a global breakup? Organizers of Miami’s tango scene say the power of “the dance of the warm embrace” can help us recover, reconnect, and restore what we’ve lost.

By Michelle Payer

DIPESH PRADHAN

f you didn’t know already, now you do: Miami has a tango scene, and it’s red hot. For the moment, it’s something of an underground movement. But that’s all about to change. It’s true that milongas—the term for social dances—have largely been dormant since COVID-19 put a kibosh on most group gatherings (and let’s face it, it’s hard to socially distance when you’re tangled up in a tango). But the pandemic alone isn’t to blame. Unlike Miami’s ubiquitous salsa community, tango has yet to achieve a mainstream appeal, largely because it’s not a dance you can jump into with a swish and swivel of your hips. Case in point: to lead the tango you’ll need about six months of lessons. To follow, you’ll need approximately three months of dedicated practice, “so you’re not bumping into anyone on the dance floor,” explains Lorena Diez, a longtime dancer and milonga organizer at Lincoln Road’s Open-Air Tango. I

Clockwise from top left: Tango Orchestra, La Juan D’Arienzo; Tango Orchestra, Cachivache; Diego Santana with his partner at the 2020 Miami Tango Sunshine Festival; Tango Show performance by Yesica Esquivel and Ariel Leguizamón.

DIPESH PRADHAN

To the casual observer, tango appears to be highly structured and choreographed. But Diez says milongas are improvised between partners for the three or four minutes they are in each other’s arms. “It’s like a physical conversation without talking,” she says. “It has an added benefit for some illnesses like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The neurological connections are so fast, your brain works quickly to grasp what’s happening in seconds—first by listening to the music, then absorbing it into your body, then seeing how your partner interprets it. It’s quick and so enjoyable, and that’s why everyone gets so hooked on tango.”

Tango teachers and milonga organizers slowly planted the Miami milonga seed when they arrived in the Magic City as transplants in the early 2000s. They had absorbed tango in their Argentine and Uruguayan homelands— usually via their grandparents—even as the 1960s rock revolution supplanted tango’s popularity. They longed for a connection to home that could only be satisfied through a deeply rooted, genetic tango thread.

While currently on pause because of the pandemic, Miami’s booming tango scene featured weekly milongas for experienced and novice dancers alike.

TONY ESPINOZA

DIPESH PRADHAN

DIPESH PRADHAN DIPESH PRADHAN

But they soon found Miami’s tango scene dominated by los viejitos—the older generation. That’s when a handful of passionate dancers—including Diez, Diego Santana, and Mariano Bejarano—set out to bring tango to a new generation of Miamians, offering free classes at South Florida restaurants on Lincoln Road, Little Havana, Coral Gables, North Miami, and Hallandale. In 2018, Santana held a “hidden milonga” behind Miami’s 71st Street bandshell one Saturday a month without a permit. Miami’s close-knit tango teachers would host milongas every night into the wee hours of the morning for the sheer joy of dancing.

“Before the pandemic, we had tango milongas every day for the last four years, which only happens in Chicago and New York,” says Santana, who teaches private lessons and organizes milongas. “Two milongas have continued for about 20 years: La Ideal every Sunday in Hallandale, and C.I.T.A., Club Internacional de Tango Argentino in Hollywood that donates all ticket sales to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” he says.

Another element that sets Miami’s milonga scene apart from other cities? Its approachability. “Little by little, tango students come to Miami because the community is very friendly, unlike New York or Chicago where it can be very intimidating,” says Santana. “Here, people say, ‘come sit with us’ and invite strangers to join them.”

“YOU WANT TO KNOW THE SECRET? IT’S NOT THE STEPS. IT’S THE CONNECTION. THERE’S NOTHING BETTER”.

—MONICA LLOBET

Miami native Monica Llobet studied tango after she took waltzing lessons in preparation for her Quinceañera. She’d heard stories about her Bolivian grandparents mastering the “dance of the warm embrace,” and became fixated on tango. “It was 2000 and it was the wild west of tango,” says Llobet. “We were all trying to figure things out.” While still a Florida International University student in 2000, she became the International Dance Organization World Tango Champion. She won her first Tango World Cup the same year in Budapest, then another world championship in Miami, followed by the World Cup in Hong Kong. Then she lost her partner to lung cancer and stopped dancing. “With tango, it has to come from within,” says Llobet. “There has to be a connection.”

It was during the hiatus that someone recognized her in a small South Beach restaurant and persuaded her to arrange milongas at The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. “I walked up to general manager Angella Reid and said, ‘I’m Monica. I’m a world champion tango dancer, and I’d like to have a milonga here,’’’ Llobet recalls. Reid smiled and said, “I like your style, let’s do it.” And so Alma de Tango was born and continues at Coral Gables’ Biltmore hotel.

“Though milongas are paused at the moment, I’m doing private lessons and still connecting with people,” says Llobet. “I know as soon as we open our doors, there will be a huge wave of people coming back. There is a deep level of meditation with your partner to feel subtle movement and the music’s smallest notes. It’s a beautiful thing, and there’s a lot of warmth to it. It’s called ‘the warm embrace’ because you’re completely focused on each other and in those three to four minutes, to listening to each other. After a year of isolation, to have someone hold you, that will be really powerful and something special. People who don’t dance will be reaching out for something like this. You want to know the secret? It’s not the steps. It’s the connection. There’s nothing better.”«

Good

Following an engagement in Grand Cayman, Miami golfer Michael Buttacavoli and Allison Guzy enjoyed a romantic staycation at the White Elephant Palm Beach.

With a shared love for food and fitness, one couple puts a safe but luxurious spin on celebrating their engagement

BY CATHY CHESTNUT | PHOTOGRAPHY AND STYLING BY JORIANN MAYE-KEEGAN, CHRIS JORIANN PHOTOGRAPHY

The White Elephant, which opened in November, is the sister property to a hotel of the same name in Nantucket. Here, Guzy dons a Zimmermann eyelet dress while Buttacavoli sports attire by Theory and carries luggage by Louis Vuitton.

F

o r M i c h a e l B u t t a c a v o l i a n d A l l i s o n G u z y , t h e i r e n g a g e m e n t g e t a w a y a t t h e W h i t e E l e p h a n t P a l m B e a c h c o u l d n ’ t c o m e s o o n e n o u g h .

Buttacavoli, a professional golfer based in Miami, proposed to his fiancée at Kimpton Seafire in Grand Cayman in early March—returning to South Florida 10 days before the state went into pandemic lockdown, dashing hopes for an engagement soiree. “We didn’t celebrate with friends,” he laments.

Two weeks after the White Elephant’s early November grand opening, the couple decided to properly put a pin in their betrothal by embarking on a lighthearted engagement escape to the hotel, which included a bicycle trek to Bradley Park, poolside mimosas, and a candlelit dinner for two on their private penthouse terrace.

When they officially come together as husband and wife in July, they will return to Palm Beach for their nuptials during a

four-day, YSD Events–planned weekend that will include visits to such island icons as The Breakers and the Palm Beach Par-3 Golf Course for a pre-wedding, get-to-know-you golf tournament. They have reserved The Brazilian Court for the black-tie courtyard ceremony and accommodations for close friends and family. “It’s hard to say what it will be like number-wise,” Guzy says, given COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty. “It will feel intimate and capped capacity-wise.”

L i k e e v e r y o n e , B u t t a c a v o l i a n d G u z y h a v e l e a r n e d t o p l a y l i f e b y e a r a s t h e p a n d e m i c h a s e v o l v e d , b u t t h i s t e s t o f p a t i e n c e a n d r e s i l i e n c e i s s o m e t h i n g t h e y ’ v e l o n g e m b r a c e d d u e t o h i s d e m a n d i n g P G A T o u r L a t i n o a m é r i c a s c h e d u l e t h a t t a k e s h i m t h r o u g h o u t S o u t h a n d C e n t r a l A m e r i c a . T o d a t e , h e ’ s p l a y e d i n 2 2 c o u n t r i e s s i n c e t u r n i n g p r o i n 2 0 1 0 . T h e y s c h e d u l e d t h e w e d d i n g  a n d t h e i r W h i t e E l e p h a n t e s c a p e  a r o u n d h i s t o u r i n g d a t e s a n d a r e a n t i c i p a t i n g t h e i r h o n e y m o o n t o S r i L a n k a a n d t h e M a l d i v e s b e f o r e s e t t l i n g d o w n i n a M i a m i B e a c h h o m e l o c a t e d , u n s u r p r i s i n g l y , o n a g o l f c o u r s e .

The couple enjoyed an intimate picnic on their penthouse terrace at the White Elephant Palm Beach. Carla Hagan coordinated the food styling and contributed the calligraphy elements, while Renny & Reed orchestrated the florals and seaside-chic decor.

Food for Thought

Guzy, who works in guest-experience relations with an athletic apparel company, plans to finish her master’s degree in French history at the University of Delaware. She’s particularly excited about seeing how the menu develops as the event draws closer. “The French foodie in me loves chef Daniel Boulud and Café Boulud,” she says of The Brazilian Court’s culinary centerpiece. “It has a French flavor aesthetically and literally.” Because she is a pescatarian, the wedding-day fare will likely feature an array of local fish.

Rather than a traditional Sunday send-off brunch, the couple is planning a “hair of the dog” breakfast with bloody Marys, bellinis, and mimosas in homage to her passion for animal rescue and her dogs: American bulldog Cocoa, English bulldog Dublin, and London, a Labrador, who will be part of the ceremony.

Fun and Games

Buttacavoli’s career as an athlete drives him to healthful eating, which they discovered was a shared interest. But beyond food, it was a passion for fitness and sports that brought Guzy, 31, and Buttacavoli, 32, together. The pair were introduced on a blind date through a gym acquaintance. “We immediately connected,” says Guzy. “We both love fitness and exercise. We knew some of the same people and trainers coincidentally.”

She is also a world traveler. “I play no golf but he also travels a lot, so we connected a lot over travel,” she says. “We had a lot of common ground.”

Originally from the Minneapolis area, Guzy played ice hockey for 14 years before hitting the Colorado slopes her freshman year in college and eventually transferring to the University of Miami. “I understand the grind and the other side of the sports life,” she says. “It’s not all glamorous.”

Born and raised in Miami Beach, Buttacavoli played a range of sports before focusing on golf, graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s in economics from Rice University, where he attended on scholarship. He is working through a complex circuit of tournaments to make the PGA Tour. “I’ve had lots of experiences you can’t learn in grad school,” he says. “The combination of those things has set me up to be successful no matter what I decide to do.”

Guzy agrees. “Being around sports my whole life, I have never seen anyone who can push themselves on their own like Michael can,” she says. “He’s very self-motivated.”

Anyone who’s traveled to Nantucket knows the White Elephant as a beacon of island hospitality. The same casual elegance and romantic by-the-sea vibe has been transplanted to Palm Beach with the opening of a 32-room sister hotel that’s every bit as chic and steeped in history. Located in the landmark building previously housing the Bradley Park Hotel, the White Elephant Palm Beach has honored the original structure while modernizing it with a contemporary aesthetic, articulated in a graphic black-and-white motif, pop art, and a sexy courtyard that’s already become the island’s gathering place of choice. Rooms are petite jewels, elevated by artful appointments and private outdoor spaces. The grandest accommodations are the Palm and Park penthouse suites, which feature living rooms and kitchens designed for entertaining, and rooftop terraces that overlook treetops and Palm Beach’s architectural landscape. —Daphne Nikolopoulos

Wedding Day Details

On the big day, the bride will be dressed in an unaltered Vera Wang gown she glimpsed in a Miami boutique but confirmed on a visit with her mother to New York City to review the whole collection.

Buttacavoli says he has no doubt the day “is going to be incredible.” The Brazilian Court is where the groom-to-be previously spent a long, beachside weekend with Guzy and her mother, which makes their choice even more special. “I really hope all can go as planned,” he says. “With the COVID uncertainty, it makes it tough. I can’t wait for the day to finally come.” «

Their terrace at the White Elephant was also the setting for a candlelit dinner. For the special evening, Guzy wore a dress and shoes by Badgley Mischka. YSD Events worked with Joriann Maye-Keegan on the styling for this vignette, which included cakes by Johnson’s Custom Cakes in Wellington and calligraphy by Carla Hagan of Carla Hagan Designs.

Source Book

Location: The White Elephant Palm Beach Florals and decor: Renny & Reed Event planning and production: YSD Events Calligraphy and food styling: Carla Hagan Designs Cake: Johnson’s Custom Cakes Hair: Rebecca Mousseau, Phairis Luxury Makeup: Diana Escobar Luggage: Louis Vuitton Guzy wore: Zimmermann and Badgley Mischka Buttacavoli wore: Theory and Stubbs & Wootton

Vintage mesh top (price upon request), Fernando Garcia, Pinkgun Gallery, Miami; Dior Tribales earring ($550), Dior Beauty long-wear waterproof eyeliner pencil 254 Captivating Blue, Dior Lip Glow in Coral, Dior, Miami Design District, dior.com.

Opposite page: Metallic swimsuit (price upon request), Red Carter, redcarter.com; metal and strass earrings ($525), Chanel, Aventura Mall, chanel.com.

Top left: Rhinestone and brass earrings (price upon request), rhinestone and brass necklace (price upon request), Dolce & Gabbana, Bal Harbour Shops, dolcegabbana.com

Bottom left: Tiffany HardWear triple-drop earrings in 18-karat gold ($3,200), Elsa Peretti mesh collar necklace in 18-karat gold with sapphires ($45,000), Tiffany & Co., Coral Gables, Miami, tiffany.com.

Opposite page: Vintage dress (price upon request), Fernando Garcia, Pinkgun Gallery, Miami; Elsa Peretti snake necklace in 18-karat gold ($15,000), Tiffany & Co., Palm Beach, Coral Gables, Miami, tiffany.com.

Top left: Rhinestone and brass earrings (price upon request), rhinestone and brass necklace (price upon request), Dolce & Gabbana, Bal Harbour Shops, dolcegabbana.com; Dior Beauty Eye Show Backstage Makeup ultra-shimmering eye shadow #342, Dior Lip Glow in Cherry Oil, Dior, Miami Design District, dior.com.

Bottom left: Metal, glass, and strass bracelet ($1,350), metal and strass earrings ($525), Chanel, Aventura Mall, chanel.com; Adele high-embellished sequin turban ($299), Mary Jane Claverol, maryjane claverol.com.

Opposite page: Vintage dress (price upon request), Fernando Garcia, Pinkgun Gallery, Miami

Model: Rebekah Allred, Zombie Models, New York Stylist: Danny Santiago, Miami, dannysantiago.com Hair and makeup: Euridice Martin using Dior Beauty, Creative Management, Miami Fashion assistant: Roxy Rooney, Honey Communications Props: Vinicius and Mitch Schultz Video and editing: Carlos Rojas DC & CO Studios team: JP Cunningham, Alex Larsen

a rainbow appears in the cypress prairie

Born and raised just 20 miles from Everglades National Park, Florida, landscape and nature photographer Paul Marcellini says he’s visited the subtropical wetland spanning nearly 2 million acres close to 1,000 times since he was a child. Always attracted to the outdoors, he naturally began photographing the land when he picked up a camera in 2005. He’s since won multiple international awards for his photography of Biscayne National Park, Miami International Airport, South Florida museums, and more. And in 2016, one of his Everglades images was used for a USPS stamp, celebrating 100 years of U.S. National Parks. “I am not a photographer just to be a photographer,” says Marcellini. “I love getting into unspoiled locations and then being able to show those to others.”

A self-taught naturalist, Marcellini says he’s constantly finding ways to raise awareness for our delicate ecosystems. “I am most familiar with the ecosystems that are near me, as they are where I spend the most time,” he shares. “I hate to see them diminished, and through my images I hope to inspire people to take an interest and care. If they don’t even know, they will never care, and an attractive image is a good first step in catching their eye.” Flip through for a mesmerizing sampling of Marcellini’s work uncovering the beauty of the Everglades. —Melissa Puppo

A self-taught naturalist, photographer Paul Marcellini educates the public and creates awareness for South Florida’s ecosystems.

Sunset over red mangroves in a freshwater habitat

Late light on the red mangroves, which is a vital habitat for many sport fish A stormy sunset over the palmettos and pines on the fringe of the freshwater prairie

Sunset over the pine rocklands and freshwater prairie

The Milky Way rises over the dwarf cypress of the southern Everglades The flooded freshwater prairie, which is usually bone dry during winter