Meet photographer Miles Wildermuth, a junior Media Arts and Design major, Journalism concentration at JMU. He is excited to display an original series of photographs of the wildlife in a Florida forest preserve called Circle B Bar Reserve. Welcome to “Alligator Alley” in Warren’s Second Floor Lounge.  

When he graduates, Wildermuth hopes to go into photojournalism in some form. “It doesn’t put a burden on me to do it,” he says about photography. “It doesn't stress me out and it takes my mind off of other things.” 

“I’ve liked photographing wildlife for a while,” says Wildermuth. “Where I’ve lived, I’ve never had any animals like that. That was really cool to see that kind of thing in the wild. [They’re] not in a zoo or something, just in their natural habitat. Kinda unbothered.” 

Although Wildermuth now attends JMU, he’s originally from Illinois where he started his photography journey by taking photos of trains in his neighborhood. Now, his parents live in Florida and the collection of photos in this gallery reminds him of the transition his family has gone through. “I was on spring break [in Florida] looking for something to do and my mom was like, ‘this place looks really cool.’” he says. ‘“Let’s go there. You could get some great photos there.’ We did. I didn’t think we’d see any alligators, but we saw a lot."  

From there, Wildermuth visited the preserve, called Circle B Bar Reserve, a couple more times. “It’s well known for the alligator population they have there. A lot of the photos are alligators, a lot of birds and other wildlife.”   

Wildermuth wants others to know that “There are a lot more places that you can explore and see than you realize. You don’t have to go super far to see things you weren’t expecting to see.” 

View the full collection here