You're not in Disneyworld anymore: Florida's 'shadow country' laid bare by photographer who spent months traveling through the Sunshine State's wild side

And this man teaches photography at Yale (of all places) his pictures are crap. Not the people, but the actual photos are terrible, a 12 year old could do better with his camera cell phone...

There is nothing unique to Florida about those scenes of devastation and deprivation , they remind me of those sights visible all along the Mississippi on a drive from Nashville/Memphis to New Orleans!

Obama should sort out his own dump of a country before preaching to us

I hope Obama reads this before he makes any more speeches telling us what to do.

Oh wow...there's so much more to the "other side" of Florida. Its not all poverty and run down buildings. If you love the outdoors, Florida has a lot to offer year round. There are rolling hills, farms, ranches, swamps, rivers, creeks, state forests. Some of my best days aren't spent at the beach but drifting down the St Marys river on a summer night. Turn off your motor and you can hear owls, coyotes, frogs, and if your lucky you may get to hear some gators. Sure there are poverty stricken areas as with any state but this guy makes it look so run down. Florida is beautiful away from all the touristy spots!!!

The comment regarding the girl and the snake, the author of this drivel wondered if the house had been destroyed by a hurricane or an earthquake. Earthquake???? FL doesn't have earthquakes. Don't these folks do any research before they write? I lived in FL, of course there's poverty. Only an idiot would think that the whole state is Disney World, Palm Beach and Miami.

Disney world is in Florida. Land in California. Also. House perhaps toppled by earthquakes ? I've lived here entire life. Never seen that. And digging out cars? I'm? Was it a sink hole ? Sounds like this guy wanted to support his month long journey to Florida And pics aren't very good.

Couldn't this project be done anywhere at any time in any part of the world? What is new?

Hey Obama...go sort your own mess out!

I was in Florida a few years ago and was horrified by all this. I can only decscribe the place as a vast scene from a Mad Max film! Gangs on streets. Old cars and machinery dumped everywhere. Drug dealers approaching you on the roads. Gunshots heard everywhere. Horrific place to live.

I think every state has these types of areas.

Go to my home town, and see the destruction of parts of it, and why? Because the people that live there have turned into a dirty dump with how they live. Likewise in Florida and a lot of the Southern states, it is the people who live there that cause these places to be dumps.

I have lived in Florida most of my life, I am now 50, and I have lived in the smaller areas and now in a large urban area, and yes you will see images like shown above, but award winning? they are nothing you will not see in every state of the nation, and every country. Much of Florida is rural, and yes, poor. These pictures are far from shocking or telling the real story of this great beautiful state.

Last time I went to Florida I was very shocked by the difference between rich and poor areas. It was a massive eye opener. Driving down the freeway, one side of the road had huge gated communities with massive houses swimming pools huge gardens ect. The other side directly opposite was caravans sheds and shacks. I guess I'm used to seeing council estates in the uk where the divide doesn't seem quite so big. Not as noticeable.

Relatives who travel to work in different parts of America, all have come back with the same stories of a country with extreme wealth and extreme poverty, sometimes within a few yards of each other. Working in India, the same poverty is heart wrenching but not such a surprise, but in America ? No wonder they want to carry guns.

Maybe Obama should consider joining the EU and ask for a grant or two, the Americans obviously need it.

The saying goes, "if you are in Florida and you can't see the ocean, you're in trouble".

Just take a look at Obamas country, He want's to sort his own country out before coming over here and telling us what we should do !

If one has travelled the length and breadth of the USA it soon becomes blantantly obvious of the extreme poverty in every state. It truly as to be seen to believe.

One of the greatest experiences of my life was driving across the country. And it's BECAUSE of towns like this one in Florida, made up of people that dont have millions of dollars but do have a distinct regional culture. And Florida is such an amazing ecosystem- there is nowhere else on Planet Earth like the Everglades. I dont know why this article is so negative- this what makes America beautiful, it's not all just cookie cutter, one type of way of being.