Clyde Butcher (born September 6, 1942) is an American large-format camera

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

known for wilderness

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

of the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

landscape. He began his career doing color photography before switching to large-scale black-and-white landscape photography after the death of his son. Butcher is a strong advocate of conservation efforts and uses his work to promote awareness of the beauty of natural places.

Background

Born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, Clyde Butcher led a nomadic childhood with his parents, until they settled in Southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

when he was 18. He attended

California Polytechnic University Cal Poly may refer to: *California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo *California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt *California State Polytechnic University, Pomona See also

* Cal Poly athletics (disambiguation) * Cal Poly Col ...

in 1960 and graduated with a degree in architecture. While visiting

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

in 1963, he learned about the photography studies of

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

. In 1961 he began dating Niki Vogel. They married on June 15, 1963. He was 20. She was 18.

Beginnings of photography career

During college, Butcher presented his architecture projects by creating and photographing miniature-scale models instead of making drawings. After graduation, Butcher began a career in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. He worked with architect William Pereira on such buildings as the Transamerica building in San Francisco and worked for architectural model companies. With the downturn in the economy, Clyde lost his job and began showing his black and white images at local art festivals. He soon realized that he could make more money in

than he was making in architecture. By 1970, he left architecture for

landscape photography Landscape photography (often shortened to landscape photos) captures the world's outdoor spaces, sometimes vast and unending and other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on human-ma ...

Commercial success

Eventually, Butcher had a partnership that marketed and sold his images to the wall décor departments of

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

, and J. C. Penney. He eventually accrued around 200 employees and offices in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

and Southern

. In order to increase sales, Butcher started photographing with color film so his images could match the avocado green shag carpets and gold couches. The bulk of his photography during this time took place west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

and in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. To escape some of the stress of the business, he moved onto a sailboat with his wife where he lived for seven years, moored in the harbor of

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

. The boat had no electricity or refrigeration, conditions were spartan. Living without a television on the boat gained the family a sense of peace and solitude while they could take advantage of the city.

Move to Florida and Personal Life

Butcher's love for boating and the television program ''

Flipper Flipper may refer to: Common meanings *Flipper (anatomy), a forelimb of an aquatic animal, useful for steering and/or propulsion in water *Swimfins, footwear that boosts human swimming efficiency, also known as flippers * Flipper (cricket), a typ ...

'' inspired him to explore Florida. Butcher sold his business in California, moved to Florida, and returned to selling art in street festivals. In 1984, the Butchers attended an art festival in Winter Park and visited Tom Gaskin’s Cypress Knee Museum on U.S. Highway 27. In 1986, the Butchers' son was killed by a drunk driver. Butcher retreated to the wilderness for solace and restoration. He put aside color photography and became a black-and-white landscape photographer using large-format cameras. In 1993, Butcher purchased "Orchid Isle, a former orchid farm" consisting of 14 acres in

Big Cypress National Preserve Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. The Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, beca ...

in Southern Florida which is surrounded by over a million acres of wilderness. This is where he built his gallery and home. He then realized that he needed to help the public to understand the beauty of the swamp and began leading guided tours through the swamp behind his gallery in Big Cypress National Preserve. Big Cypress Gallery is open seven days a week from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. In 1997, Butcher began creating very large images up to 5' x 9' and needed a larger darkroom. To accommodate his expanding practice, he purchased a building located in an industrial park in

Venice, Florida Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in ...

. The building is home to his 2,000 square foot darkroom as well as a gallery. The darkroom is open to the public twice a year for tours. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Conservation work

Butcher's deep appreciation for the Everglades inspired him to work for the restoration and preservation of the environment. He has received recognition for his community service as well as his photography. In 1992,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

aired a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about him, ''Visions of Florida,'' which won a Wolfson Award. Butcher and his work have also inspired other artist-conservationists, such as film producer Elam Stoltzfus, who was struck by Clyde's art. The pair have formed a friendship over the years and have collaborated on several multimedia projects together as a result. Butcher hosted the documentaries "Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades" and "Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades," sister films that highlighted the importance of conservation and art in the state of Florida. Beyond photography, Butcher is an active environmentalist. He has been instrumental in raising awareness about the importance of preserving natural habitats, particularly the Florida Everglades. Through his galleries, exhibitions, and public speaking engagements, he advocates for conservation and educates the public on environmental issues.

Exhibitions

Clyde Butcher's photographs have been exhibited in many museums across the country including:
Las Cruces Museum
- Las Cruces, NM - Lifeworks in Photography - 2024
Gadsden Museum of Art
- Quincy, FL * The Dali Museum - St. Petersburg, FL * Museum of Fine Arts - St. Petersburg, FL * James Museum - St. Petersburg, FL
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Butler Institute of American Art
- Youngstown, Ohio *

St. Petersburg Museum of History The St. Petersburg Museum of History (SPMOH) is a history museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida, dedicated to covering the area's history. , the museum's director is Rui Farias. History The museum was founded by Mary Wheeler Eaton in 1920 ...

- St. Petersburg, FL *

Museum of Florida History The Museum of Florida History is the U.S. state of Florida's history museum, housing exhibits and artifacts covering its history and prehistory. It is located in the state capital, Tallahassee, Florida, at the R. A. Gray Building, 500 South Bron ...

- Tallahassee, FL
Pensacola Museum of Art
- Pensacola, FL
The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature
- Bradenton, FL *

Museum of the Rockies Museum of the Rockies is a museum in Bozeman, Montana. Originally affiliated with Montana State University - Bozeman, Montana State University in Bozeman, and now also, the Smithsonian Institution. The museum is largely known for its Paleontology, ...

- Bozeman, MT *

Midwest Museum of American Art The Midwest Museum of American Art is a non-profit public art museum located in downtown Elkhart, Indiana, United States. The museum's space houses a collection focusing on 19th and 20th century American art. Its collection includes selection ...

- Elkhart, Indiana * Museum of Discovery and Science - Ft. Lauderdale, FL *

Annenberg Space for Photography Annenberg may refer to: * Annenberg (surname) * The Annenberg Foundation, formerly Annenberg/CPB, known for funding educational television and the Annenberg Channel * Annenberg School for Communication (disambiguation) ** The USC Annenberg School f ...

- Los Angeles, CA *

Orlando Museum of Art The Orlando Museum of Art (OMA) is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization directly serving greater Orlando, Orange County and Central Florida. The museum was founded in 1924 by a group of art enthusiasts. General OMA presents a rotating series ...

- Orlando, FL * Naples Museum of Art - Naples, FL *

Boca Raton Museum of Art Founded by artists, the Boca Raton Museum of Art was established in 1950 as the Art Guild of Boca Raton. The organization has grown to encompass an Art School, Guild, Store, and Museum with permanent collections of contemporary art, photography, ...

- Boca Raton, Florida *

Fernbank Museum of Natural History Fernbank Museum of Natural History, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a museum that presents exhibitions and programming about natural history. The museum has a number of permanent exhibitions and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions in its expansive fa ...

- Atlanta, GA *

Muscarelle Museum of Art The Muscarelle Museum of Art is a university museum affiliated with the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While the Museum only dates to 1983, the university art collection has been in existence since its first gift – a p ...

, - Williamsburg, VA *

Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, also known as MOCA Jacksonville, is a contemporary art museum in Jacksonville, Florida, funded and operated as a "cultural institute" of the University of North Florida. One of the largest contemporar ...

- Jacksonville, FL * Dubuque Museum of Art - Dubuque, IA * Bergstorm-Mahler Museum - Neenah, WI *

Ringling Museum of Art The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State Uni ...

(in conjunction with Ansel Adams) - Sarasota, FL *

Lowe Art Museum Lowe Art Museum is the art museum of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The museum is located on the campus of the University of Miami and is accessible by Metrorail (Miami-Dade County), Miami Metrorail at University station (Miami- ...

-Miami, Florida * Appleton Museum - Ocala, FL *

Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale The NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale is an art museum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Originating in 1958 as the Fort Lauderdale Art Center, the museum is now located in an modernist building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. The current building wa ...

- Ft. Lauderdale, FL International Exhibitions * National Gallery of Art - Prague, Czech Republic * Gallery of Classic Photography (group exhibit) - Moscow, Russia

Books and publications

* ''Clyde Butcher, Portfolio I: Florida Landscapes'' (1994, Shade Tree Press; ) * ''Clyde Butcher: Nature's Places of Spiritual Sanctuary Photographs from 1961 to 1999'' (1999, University Press of Florida; ) * ''Living Waters: Aquatic Preserves Of Florida'' (2004, University Press of Florida; ) * ''Clyde Butcher Florida Landscape'' (2005, University Press of Florida; ) * ''Clyde Butcher Apalachicola River, An American Treasure'' (2006, Italy; ) * Clyde Butcher America the Beautiful 1st edition (2007) * ''Clyde Butcher Visions of Dali Spain'' (2018, Italy; ) * ''Clyde Butcher Cuba The Natural Beauty 2nd edition'' (2019, Italy; ) * ''Clyde Butcher The Everglades'' (2020, EBS; ) * ''Clyde Butcher National Parks'' (2021, Printed in Singapore; ) * ''Clyde Butcher Lifeworks in Photography'' (2024, Printed in Singapore; )

Legacy and awards

Photography

* 1998, Florida Artist Hall of Fame Awar

* 2000, Ansel Adams Award for Conservation Photography, Ansel Adams Award from the Sierra Club

* 2003, Florida Monthly Magazine – Best Florida Gallery * 2005,

North American Nature Photography Association The North American Nature Photography Association or NANPA is an organization dedicated to photography of nature. The association's headquarters were originally in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and now are in Alma, Illinois. Established in 1994, NANPA jo ...

Lifetime Achievement Award 200

* 2006, Best Florida Artist

''Florida Magazine'' Best of Florida 2006 * 2007, Florida International Magazine – Power Player Award * 2008, Florida Trend Sustainable Florida– Legacy Award * 2008, Estuary Guardian of the Year Award - Estuary Conservation Association * 2011, Florida House Embassy Washington, DC –Distinguished Artist Award * 2015, Florida Lake Management Society (FLMS) The Scott Driver Award * 2014, Visit Sarasota County’s Voice of Sarasota Award * 2017, IPA (International Photography Awards), Celebrating America’s National Parks Book, Professional Book, 1st place * 2017, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation “Ding” Darling Brush of Excellence Environmental Art Program * 2019, Photographic Society of America, International Understanding Through Photography Award * 2019, Leadership Florida®, LeRoy Collins Lifetime Achievement Award * 2020, The South Florida National Parks Trust – Lifetime Achievement Award * 2020, Friends of the Rookery Bay - Lavern Norris Gaynor Environmental Champion Award * 2020, Black & White Magazine, Special Issue Photo Contest Winners, Ghost Orchid Dancing & Whilden’s Pond * 2022,

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

Community service

* 1996, Heartland

Community Service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

Award * 1997,

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

Coalition Award * 1997, "Person of the Week", presented by

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 200 ...

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

br>
* 1997,

American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...

- Florida Chapter Service Award * 1998, South Eastern Region

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

Conservation Colleague Award * 1999, Keeping

Beautiful - Adopt-A-Highway

Public Service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

Award * 2004, Wolfsom Telly Award * 2004, Top 100 Most Influential People in

* 2005,

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

Humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

of the Year Award * 2006, Conservancy Eagle Award - Conservancy of South West Florida * 2008, Estuary Guardian of the Year Award - Estuary Conservation Association * 2008, Stars Arts Award - Paradise Coast * 2010, Crystal Vision Award - League of Environmental Educators of Florida * 2011, Gulf Shore Life Magazine - Man of the Year * 2012, Biff Lampton Conservation Communicator of the Year Award - Florida Wildlife Federation * 2013, Voice of the Arts Award - Naples International Film Festival * 2016, Brush of Excellence Award - Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation * 2018, Theodore Roosevelt Award - Audubon Florida

References

External links

Clyde Butcher's website

Florida Department of Environmental Protection
"Clyde Butcher, A Photographer In The Heart Of The Everglades"
''Shutterbug'', February 2004 * https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tom-shroder/seeing-the-light/

C. Butcher, Clyde on Indexmod Encyclopedia of Art and Fashion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher, Clyde 1942 births Living people Artists from Kansas City, Missouri American environmentalists Photographers from Florida Sierra Club awardees Everglades