Photo Exhibit: Above and Below the Ocean

An exhibition of the photography of Marc Shargel, including many underwater images from local ocean waters, plus vivid images of eclipses and the great landscapes of the American West. Marc Shargel has taken his cameras underwater to photograph sharks, jellies, and kelp forests. On land he has made vivid images of eclipses and the great landscapes of the American West. As a scuba diver, he has been watching ecological shifts in the Central California Pacific since the 1970s. Recently, he has used his camera to document stunning changes to California’s kelp forests. On Saturday, January 13, he’ll share a lifetime of photographic images and marine observations with guests at the Felton Library. Shargel will highlight the most extreme, recent changes seen from Big Sur to Mendocino, and explain what science has revealed about recent declines in our kelp forests. Shargel observed slow but continuous decreases in marine life during scuba dives from 1978 to 2013. Then, suddenly California’s kelp began to disappear, and with it over 1,000 species that live in kelp forests. Since 1997 he has been a champion for marine reserves, which are no-take areas that function as refuges and nurseries for life in our ocean. He played an integral part in drawing the boundaries for new marine reserves along the Central Coast. Renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle calls them “hope spots.” But in 2013, just six years after the new reserves went into effect, stunning changes in marine life presented a new threat. Shargel will reveal a photographic chronicle of the beautiful but now-threatened kelp forests found just beyond local shores. Shargel’s photos of California marine life were a unique contribution to the debate about creating marine reserves in Central California. After 2007, as processes to create “parks in the ocean” moved to other parts of the state, he created larger photo essays for each region. These became a series of three lavishly printed coffee-table volumes, his Wonders of the Sea books. Following that, he authored the soft cover Yesterday’s Ocean: A History of Marine Life on California’s Central Coast. The January 13 event highlights an exhibit of Shargel’s photography, which will be on view from January 2 to March 29, 2024 at the Felton Library, open to the public 10 to 6 every day except Sundays (10 to 5 on Fridays and Saturdays). Marc Shargel is well-known to local art lovers as well: his home-studio is a regular stop on the Santa Cruz County Open Studios tour each October, as well as the San Lorenzo Valley Art Tour each May. His photography includes placid vistas beneath sunlit kelp forests, and encounters with everything from jewel-like snails to swarming jellies and schooling hammerhead sharks. He has presented at nearly every dive club in the greater Bay Area, and dozens of civic organizations as well. The all-ages, family-friendly event with Marc Shargel at the Felton Library on January 13 is free.This event is part of Community-led Learning, a project of Felton Library Friends and Santa Cruz Public Libraries. The photographic exhibit is also free and will be on view from January 2 to March 29, 2024 during Felton branch open hours.

Event Links

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2165300-0

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