Deep Focus
BY KRISTEN DESMOND LEFEVRE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUCA MARTINEZ
LUCA MARTINEZ SEES THE EVERGLADES AS SOMETHING WORTH SAVING, AND AT JUST 18 YEARS OLD, HE IS USING HIS PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS AND SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY TO INSPIRE A NEW GENERATION
Slogging through chest-deep water in an Everglades slough isn't the stuff of viral social media posts for most teens. But for Luca Martinez, an 18-year-old self-taught photographer from Miami, the images and videos of his excursions into Florida's famed River of Grass are exactly what's drawing eyeballs—to the tune of millions of likes and views on TikTok and Insta-gram-and now an even bigger audience in the form of partnerships with Nikon and National Geographic, a film documentary in the works with Oscar-nominated producer Phil Fairclough, and other exciting projects still under wraps and on the horizon.
But Martinez hasn't let the attention go to his head.
For him, the real star is the Glades itself. In a mature move, he's turned the accolades he's receiving as a wildlife photographer into a platform for conserva-tion, eschewing individual fame in an effort to inspire young people to care about a place that's often over-looked, misunderstood, and feared.
