VIEW OF CARDOZO | Niki Butcher

Miami Beach © 1983

Photographic Story This is where I discovered I wanted to hand-paint photographs. 
I love history, and when I discovered that the old Art Deco buildings on Miami Beach were going to be torn down, I was just as upset as the rest of the community. I decided I needed to photograph them before they disappeared. I had never been to the Art Deco section of Miami Beach, so when I arrived I was horrified to see the buildings were painted chocolate brown, hospital green, and other horrible colors. I thought they would be painted the pastel colors that I associate with that period of history. 
I decided to hand-paint them as though they were already pastel colors. The images were very much appreciated – even to the point where some of the owners of the buildings used my images and colors to copy for the buildings that I had “fictionalized”. 
Eventually, the Art Deco section was saved and today you can photograph it in color, and enjoy the flavor of the colors of the buildings. The Art of Hand Painting Black and White Photographs Niki prints her images on fiber-base black and white mat surface paper in the darkroom, then using Q-tips and cotton balls, she applies a thin coat of oil paint over the surface allowing the image to gently be seen through the oil paint. Archival Print Making Niki’s open edition gicleé artwork is printed on Sunset Bright Velvet Rag matte finish paper using eight archival inks. A state-of-the-art Epson Stylus Pro printer creates deep, rich dark values that hold subtle detail in the shadows as well as bright vivid colors that are truly tropical.