The Lost Decades: Winter Garden in the 1980s and 1990s

I discovered and started photographing the old agricultural town of Winter Garden, Florida in 1979, while I was a brand-new resident of the sprawling metropolitan Orlando area. Over the last 47 years, I have captured the changes and the stories of the people and places in Winter Garden, more than in any other place in the United States. In 2010, the local government commissioned and purchased an entire custom-made portfolio of 20 archival prints for permanent display in their new City Hall. The original title, “The Lost Decades,” was chosen for the city’s collection and exhibition because no one else was documenting the historic downtown area during a time of economic decline. In the summer of 2026, the body of work was featured in the city’s Art in Public Spaces Gallery, as the city’s contribution to the America at 250 celebrations.