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

I live in Florida. I wish he stated where these pictures were taken.

Good photographer showed that not all whites are "priviledged"

I've spent a lot of time in the States and lived there for a while. The poverty is absolutely shocking. Every City I've visited has whole neighbourhoods in absolute anarchy that are effectively no-go areas. It's especially bad in the mid West where they also have to contend with an incredible morbid obesity epidemic. It really is the Roman empire in its final days as the Barbarians were at the gate. Yet the moneyed Americans live in complete denial. People on Wall St (where I worked and still deal with) either are oblivious to it or refuse to recognise it. I've never seen anything to match it here. And I live half a mile from Tooting!

Did the "author" of this article play "guess the picture" before writing the captions? They all seem wrong to me.

It was like growing up in the 50s and 60s. A simpler way of life. Why does everyone have to live in the city and drive cars and ride buses. And keep their kids in the house with video games because it's safer? Of course even though we had no money we roamed free from sunrise to sunset. In and out of the house all summer. Walking, swimming, etc. old buildings are everywhere. My father had a small business. Mom was a housekeeper. We went to school in hand me downs and holes in our socks. But it was a great life. None of these photos are TRUE poverty. Good grief. Where did this photographer grow up?

Disneyland is in California. DisneyWorld is in Florida. And we aren't known for having earthquakes in Florida. Did Hannah Perry have a brain tumor for breakfast?

Is the photographer trying to imply all of Florida is like these pictures outside of the tourist area's? Because it is not

I live in Florida and I could go 5 mins from West Palm Beach and take the same photos, but I could also take some of the beautiful scenery and wildlife

Florida has nothing on Southern Indiana, believe me..And just because the folks in these pix are poor doesn't mean that they don't have feelings or dreams or hope for a better life, or long for love like the rest of us, remember that.

What are these photo titles! Boy sitting alone looks like man having a wash. Men digging out a car!

No different to any other country in the world.If your poor life is hard.

Oh dear, where to start? 1 It's "hordes" not "hoards." 2. Pic number 5 is a CYPRESS swamp. Mangroves -> salt water. Cypress -> fresh water. Get it?

Stupid article! What does this prove? Everywhere has bad run down places but tourists don't go there because, guess what? They are not tourist places ! Would the journo like to report on Hounslow, Whitechapel or Croydon considering London is a major global tourist destination?

you get poverty in all the places on earth , the bigger the country bigger the poverty its always brushed over

This has got to be in the top 3 worst articles ever written by DM. It's bad. I mean... It's REALLY BAD. Flrodai??? Really DM? It's like you're not even trying.

There isn't a state in the country that doesn't have a less-attractive side. I grew up in Orlando. There used to be an east side and a west side divided by I-4. The west side housed the flophouse hotels, plasma centers and homeless shelters. Orange Blossom Trail is Orlando's version of Boston's Combat Zone. Even living in East Orlando, like I did, there was a very distinct division of economic class; so much so that the dividing line for two local high schools ran between my neighborhood and the more upscale one next to it. I went to school with the rural folks and lots of kids from retired military families who didn't have a lot of money while the kids in the neighborhood next to mine went to a school that had a swimming pool and it's own radio station. I learned very early on that class distinction is alive and well.

Hoards = store of money or valued objects, typically one that is secret or carefully guarded; hordes = a large group of people! Does DM employ anyone who can use English correctly? Second misuse of this noun in two days.

Most people don't have a clue about Florida. I have family there, and traveled across the state many times back in the early 60's. And there was NOTHING there for the most part. You could drive for hours, and not see an exit on the highway. So, A) it's grown up REALLY fast. And B) a lot of the (old) population had to be very hardscrabble to survive living in what amounted to a giant swamp or forest with nothing in it. You had to be tough and resourceful to eek out a living there. Plus, many of them were driven out by hurricanes, so the ones that were left, were even tougher. There was nothing there except around the beaches, I mean nothing. Then in the 50's tourism picked up, and people started flocking down there. So it grew up really fast, but with lots of "damnyankees" trying to force their lifestyle on people that have been living there for generations. It's not like some places that have grown up over the last 200 years, they did it in the last 50.

Disneyland is in California. You mean DisneyWORLD, which is in Orlando, FL.

Doesn't make any sense.You can go to any place around the world and find a poor house. It shouldn't really be a surprise that majority of Florida is far from glamorous.Florida doesn't really have much industry.