People of Florida | Oklahoma Photographer

I have a thousand photos ??? that I shot during vacation to Florida, mostly landscape of the Gulf County/Apalachicola region. Yet, it was on the journey of our trip to Crescent City when we spied this man Sunday morning setting his roadside stand up, somewhere along the Interlachen area. I would have to look at a map to remember exactly where. His name is Vincent Shand and he's 80 and shared his story with us. As my husband listened I shot photos. He talked of how he quit smoking and drinking and became a Seventh Day Adventist who shares the gospel. His church was just across the road.


We bought onions for $1.50. And an old Bible for $5.


The last two shots were of Mr. V.A. Shand and his fellow 'brother' Brother McKinney. This was the second to last shot and I loved the complete honesty of their joyfulness.
One of the reasons I chose to make this my first Florida post was the impact that Richard Bickel had on me. If you walk into his gallery in Apalachicola or know of his work, then you will understand why this post honors him. He is a fantastic photojournalist and someone who understands the people and that region. If you are an aspiring photojournalist, I encourage you to learn about Bickel and his works. I bought one of his books and he signed it for me. That's another post.