Florida Museum of Photographic Arts in collaboration with National Geographic Magazine honors a groundbreaking photojournalist who spent 38 years traveling to the ends of the earth to get the perfect shot and survived innumerable near-death experiences during these frequent escapades. Abercrombie is probably best known for his regular coverage of the Muslim world. He began visiting Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s and became the magazine's greatest expert on the Middle East, reporting on and exploring the region from Morocco to Afghanistan for more than three decades until he retired in 1994. Though he died last April due to complications from open-heart surgery, his memory lives on through his work. FMPA and National Geographic premiere an exhibit of 50 of his images in Thomas J. Abercrombie: National Geographic Magazine Photographer. The works are on display through April 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, 200 N. Tampa St., downtown Tampa, $2 suggested donation, 813-221-2222, fmopa.org.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2007.