Bug Shower by Nabil Harb

Bug Shower, 2022. Archival pigment print, 24″ x 36″

AVON PARK, Fla. – Feb. 1, 2023 – The exhibition, “Atmospheres,” features large black-and-white photographs by Lakeland, Fla. artist Nabil Harb and is on view at the South Florida State College (SFSC) Museum of Florida Art and Culture (MOFAC) in Avon Park from Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Friday, April 7, 2023. Meet the artist and enjoy free refreshments at the artist reception for the exhibition on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 12:30-2:30 p.m. at MOFAC.

“Nabil Harb’s photographs are taken in and around his home town of Lakeland, Fla., and he is passionate about the local history and culture that is rapidly being lost,” said Anthony Record, MOFAC curator.

Harb has lived and worked in New York and elsewhere, but after graduating with an MFA from Yale University in 2021, he returned to Lakeland to continue his photographic work. Harb believes he creates his best work in Lakeland because it’s where he grew up, and he knows the area so well. “If I want to shoot someplace here and I don’t know the person who owns it, I know someone who does,” said Harb, speaking from his office at Florida Southern College where he is a visiting professor.

Whether he’s photographing on dance floors during performances at Florida’s oldest gay bar, on hunting trails at night from the back of a pickup truck, or going outside to photograph in the middle of Hurricane Ian, Harb is fascinated by the unique history and sensory experiences of his hometown. He has built an intimate photographic archive that represents his research, wanderings, and local network.

Merging science fiction and Southern Gothic traditions, Harb’s photography allows the viewer to see visual complexity and historical connections in pictures of places that are easy to miss, especially in a place like Lakeland which Harb describes as a “pass-through town” between Tampa and Orlando.

The title of the exhibition, “Atmospheres” refers to Harb’s interest in depicting the humid and heavy air of Florida, as well as other ways that water travels in fog, rivers, and storms. Harb is interested in the relationships between water and the city’s infrastructure, and he relates this interaction and movement of water to the movement of roads and highways, as passages that can open up and physically connect all of these places and points in time that make up the disappeared and disappearing histories of Lakeland.

Learn more about Harb and see examples of his work by viewing the MOFAC-produced video at youtube.com/@mofac_sfsc.

MOFAC is located at on the SFSC Highlands Campus at 600 West College Drive in Avon Park. For more information about the exhibition or MOFAC, call the Museum Office at 863-784-7130 or visit mofac.org.