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Clyde Butcher - Black & White Fine Art Photography
CLYDE BUTCHER
Black & White Fine Art Photography
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ClydeGhostorchidLRA Legendary Photographer and National Treasure
For more than 50 years, Clyde Butcher has been creating exquisite black and white photographs of the untouched natural landscapes of North America. Internationally renowned, his stunning photography transports the viewer into the primordial beauty of expansive horizons, endless vistas, and seldom seen splendor of the wilderness. His powerful images explore not only his own personal bond with the environment, but beckon us to our own personal communion with the natural world.

The scale and extraordinary clarity of his work sets it apart as exceptional. In the tradition of the nineteenth-century Hudson River School painters, Clyde composes his works at pristine and untarnished locations across the United States, creating arresting compositions that distinctly mark him as the foremost landscape photographer in America today.

Clyde has been called the next Ansel Adams by Popular Photography magazine, awarded as a humanitarian for acting for the betterment of his community, and recognized as a conservationist for bringing issues to the forefront of public consciousness through his art. His photography transcends political boundaries, challenging us to work together to protect natural places across the globe.

cb 1974LRButcher’s journey began with a humble origin, born in Kansas City, Mo. in 1942, the only child to a sheet-metal worker. As a child, he spent most of his time drawing boat designs and crafting ship prototypes from scrap metal.

Butcher graduated with a degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University. It was then that he discovered his inability to draw architectural designs. To rectify this he taught himself photography, enabling him to photograph (rather than draw) his architectural models for presentations. Unable to afford a store-bought camera, he made himself a crude, but dependable pinhole camera.

Niki Vogel and Clyde married in 1963. He saw an Ansel Adams Photography exhibit at Yosemite National Park, and was so impressed by Adams’ work that he began to photograph landscapes in black and white. Clyde left the architecture field in 1970 and began exhibiting his black and white photographs at art festivals.

In 1971 Clyde established his second business, Eye Encounter, Inc., and began selling his photographs as wall decor to department stores such as Montgomery-Wards, J.C. Penny’s, and Sears. To enhance sales, he began to use color film, and also a 5″x7″ view camera. In addition to photographing landscapes in California, he also began to take pictures in Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Ohio, and Hawaii. Eye Encounter became a multi-million-dollar business, employing more than 200 workers. Though due to the stress of the business Clyde sold it in 1977. To regroup he then built a sailboat and trailered it across the country to Florida.

007 flica fl family florida KLRClyde moved with his family to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and after a short while he long
ed for a slower pace and moved to Ft. Myers in 1980. Clyde then began selling his color photographs of the American West at Florida art festivals. After briefly looking around Florida and not seeing anything to photograph, he began producing manipulated photographs with an outer-space theme.

003c Butcher_C_Forest_Rays KLRIn 1983 Clyde began photographing Florida beaches, still using color film. It wasn’t until a visit to Tom Gaskin’s Cypress Knee Museum in 1984, a roadside attraction in central Florida, that Clyde was introduced to a new side of Florida. He states, after strolling on the boardwalk through a primeval cypress swamp, a whole new world was opened up for me”. He then met Oscar Thompson, a Florida native, who introduced Clyde to the interior” of the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades by taking Clyde on his first walk in to the swamp. After his immersion in to the beauty he found so mysterious and primeval, Clyde was then inspired to take black and white photographs of the swamp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

019 ted jackie niki cb KLRIn 1986, Clyde’s 17 year old son Ted was killed by a drunk driver. After which Clyde found solace in the wilderness of the Big Cypress National Preserve, where the mysterious, spiritual experience of being close to nature helped to restore his soul. Resolving to relinquish his ties to color photography, he destroyed his color work and vowed to use only black and white film. He purchased an 8″x10″ view camera and enlarger.

Although Butcher will always be identified with the Everglades, he is deeply committed to recording precious landscapes throughout the world. The beauty and importance of Butcher’s photography quickly earned him widespread recognition resulting in museum exhibits in the United States, an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Prague celebrating the new millennium, and a request by the United Nations to photograph the mountains of Cuba to celebrate The Year of the Mountains.

Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Big Cypress National Preserve is my home, so I'm very partial to it's beauty. It seems that no matter where I go in the Big Cypress photographic opportunities abound. On this summer day when we were hiking out in the grassy plains, the beauty of the water, grass and cypress trees all seemed to express what the whole eco-system of South Florida is about. I couldn't resist taking a photograph!

Butcher has completed six Public Broadcasting programs on the environment of Florida, three of them award-winning documentaries. Much of his work can be seen in his numerous books including; America the Beautiful, a table top collection of his work from across the United States, Big Cypress Swamp – The Western Everglades, Second Edition, which features images from the Big Cypress Swamp where he and Niki made a home for 16 years, and Celebrating America’s National Parks, Preserves, Monuments, Recreation Areas.  
Dedicated to the employees of the National Parks, this book showcases Clyde’s stunning black and white photographs of parks ranging from the mountains of Montana to the swamps in the Everglades.

BoksOnTableLRButcher has completed six Public Broadcasting programs on the environment of Florida, three of them award-winning documentaries. Much of his work can be seen in his numerous books including; America the Beautiful, a table top collection of his work from across the United States, Big Cypress Swamp – The Western Everglades, Second Edition, which features images from the Big Cypress Swamp where he and Niki made a home for 16 years, and Celebrating America’s National Parks, Preserves, Monuments, Recreation Areas.  
Dedicated to the employees of the National Parks, this book showcases Clyde’s stunning black and white photographs of parks ranging from the mountains of Montana to the swamps in the Everglades.

 

 

 

 


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    The Ghost Orchid is a very rare native orchid of F The Ghost Orchid is a very rare native orchid of Florida. 

It has many unique features, but one of the features I find most fascinating is that it doesn’t have any leaves. If the plant isn’t in bloom, you’d have no idea there was an orchid on the tree. 

At night the orchid emits a beautiful gentle scent. It is pollinated by the giant sphinx moth. The moth has a 6″ proboscis that enables it to reach into the long spur of the orchid flower. The orchid is on the state list of endangered species.

📷Ghost Orchid Twin 2 was taken with a Deardorff 5×7 camera on T-Max 100 film. Camera settings  f/45 | 72mm Schneider XL lens | 20 seconds

GHOST ORCHID TWIN 2 © 2007 
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 #bnwphoto #photooftheday📷 #artoftheday #photographylovers #filmphotographer #bnw_captures #blackandwhiteonly #naturephotography #ClydeButcher #floridaphotography #orchidsofinstagram #orchids #orchidlover #floridaorchids #ghostorchid
    This was another early morning shot that was taken This was another early morning shot that was taken before the Merced River became a rushing torrent of melted snow. Because the river was calm Clyde was able to use the reflection as part of the composition. 

With the clear blue sky he used a red filter, which accentuated the up-thrust of El Capitan into a dark sky, making for a very clean composition.

EL CAPITAN 100 © 2006 
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 #yosemitenp #yosemite #yosemitepark #elcapitan #bnwphoto #largeformat #photographyart #photographyeveryday #filmphotographer #bnw_captures #ClydeButcher #ClydeButcherPhotography #california #californialove
    As I was walking down a trail in Myakka State Park As I was walking down a trail in Myakka State Park, I came across this old oak tree but couldn’t find a good composition for photographing the entire tree. 

As I circled the tree searching for a composition, I found myself enjoying the scene of the grassland embraced by the rugged oak limb, so I set up my camera and took the photograph.

📷MYAKKA OAK 20 © 2014 
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 #myakka #MyakkaRiver #myakkastatepark #myakkariverstatepark #naturephotographer #naturephoto #floridaphotographer #ClydeButcher #landscapephotography #blackandwhitephoto #fineart #fineartphoto #bnw_captures #realflorida #floridaseeitlikeanative #explorida
    Join Clyde, Niki, and also oil painter Jeff Ripple Join Clyde, Niki, and also oil painter Jeff Ripple at the Big Cypress Gallery for a Meet and Greet event on Saturday, February 4th, from 10 am to 3 pm.

This event is free and open to the public, but we are asking that you please do RSVP.

Please let us know if you will join us in the morning or afternoon by selecting a time slot during checkout.

Tap the link in Clyde’s bio for full event details and to RSVP.

The Big Cypress Gallery has been a source of inspiration for many of Clyde's photographs. Come enjoy the natural beauty of the unique landscape! 

Questions? Call the Big Cypress Gallery at 239-695-2428.
    I am an ardent fan of NASA and anything that has t I am an ardent fan of NASA and anything that has to do with the stars and the universe. I was invited to photograph the shuttle that carried John Glenn’s second trip into outer space. 

It also carried a scientist friend's project: pregnant fish. They were the first species to give birth in space. The object was to see if fish could be a renewable food source for space travel. 

Watching the shuttle liftoff toward the heavens was a very powerful experience. 

While watching, I was inspired to the realization that we can do anything we set our minds to and this gave me a wonderful hope for the future. It was a great experience.

📷 GODSPEED, JOHN GLENN © 1998 
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 #NASA #capecanaveral #kennedyspacecenter #floridaartists #floridaartwork #floridaphotographer #ClydeButcher #bnw_captures #bnwphoto
    Our darkroom tour event at the Venice gallery was Our darkroom tour event at the Venice gallery was so much fun!

Do you have any questions about Clyde’s darkroom?

Let us know in the comments and we’ll work on answering those questions in upcoming content.
    Galleries

    Venice Gallery & Studio

    237 Warfield Ave. S., Venice, FL, 34285
    (941) 486-0811   |   mail@clydebutcher.com
    Tuesday-Friday 10am-4:30pm

    Big Cypress Gallery

    52388 Tamiami Trail, Ochopee, FL, 34141
    (239) 695-2428   |   bcg@clydebutcher.com
    Open 7 Days A Week 10am-5pm
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