Jeffrey Cardenas

Jeffrey Cardenas is a Key West, Florida-based writer and photographer. The books he has contributed to, written, and photographed are eclectic but a common thread of nature and humanity binds them all.

He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Photojournalism. He studied Creative Writing with author Harry Crews, and Fine Art Photography with photographers Yvonne Streetman and Jerry Ulesmann. As a journalist he has worked as both a writer and photographer and his work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Time, Outside, and Playboy.

His photography illustrated "Key West Writers’ and their Houses" by Lynn Kaufelt, and "Feast of Sunlight" by Norman Van Aken. He was awarded a fine arts grant by the State of Florida to photograph underwater landscapes of the Florida Keys. "Marquesa: A Time & Place with Fish", a natural history book about the Marquesas Keys, was published in 1995. A limited edition of this book was also produced featuring a portfolio of black-and-white underwater landscapes of the Marquesas. A collection of essays, "Sea Level", was published in 2002, with an introduction by Jimmy Buffett. Author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen described the work of Jeffrey Cardenas as “…very fine lyrical and translucent writing.” The first editions of both “Marquesa” and “Sea Level” sold out pre-publication. Both books are now available on Amazon Kindle.

Jeffrey Cardenas is of Cuban origin; his paternal grandfather was born in the Cuban province of Villa Clara. In 1980, Jeffrey reported a series of articles about the Mariel Cuba Boatlift for Gannett newspapers. He returned to Cuba frequently culminating with the recently completed photographic portrait project “Cómo lo vemos a Usted” with Cuban photographer Yanela Piñeiro. In 2014, the images were presented in a major exhibition at Havana’s acclaimed Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. The entire portfolio has been published and signed first editions are available on Amazon or by contacting the author directly at JeffreyCardenas@mac.com.