Now Open: Exhibition of Mozert’s Florida Springs Photography Curated by Art History Alumna Elizabeth Loeffelman

The State Archives of Florida is now hosting an exhibition of Florida photographer Bruce Mozert’s work curated by Art History alumna Elizabeth Loeffelman (MA ’17). Underwater Innovations: The Florida Springs Photography of Bruce Mozert is open through February in the Gallery for Innovation and the Arts on the first floor of the R.A. Gray Building. The exhibition features underwater photographs taken by Bruce Mozert at Silver Springs during the 1950s. 

Bruce Mozert  (1916–2015) was a freelance New York photographer on an advertising assignment in Miami in 1938 when he took a detour to meet the cast of a Tarzan movie being filmed in Silver Springs. When the cast left, Mozert decided to stay, and became the official photographer of Silver Springs. He designed waterproof housings for underwater photography, then arranged people and props in “everyday” scenes that showed off the crystalline clarity of the springs. For 45 years Silver Springs captivated American tourists with a publicity campaign centered on Mozert’s photographs.   

In her professional role as State Archives Social Media and Outreach Coordinator, Elizabeth Loeffelman spent much of the past year working on the Mozert Collection, which was recently acquired by the State Archives. Loeffelman rehoused the collection, selected 700 negatives for digitization and posting on FloridaMemory.com, and curated the exhibition, which opened on January 9.

Underwater Innovations: The Florida Springs Photography of Bruce Mozert is open through February 28, 2020. The R.A. Gray Building is located at 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

Above right, Elizabeth Loeffelman at work in the State Archives.  Above, Photographs from the Bruce Mozert collection, 1950s, courtesy of FloridaMemory.com.