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Indian Key 5, by Clyde Butcher
Clyde Butcher is the preeminent master of Florida landscape photography. He is arguably the best landscape photographer in the country today. His stunning black and white images shot on large format film evoke instant longing to go find a Florida back road and follow it wherever it takes you, just don’t forget your camera.
Thanks to my Father-In-Law, I was not only able to attend a lecture by Clyde and his long time friend and fellow photographer Jeff Ripple tonight…I also got to spend a few moments speaking with him. As I drove down to the event tonight (the opening of their joint showing at Bradenton’s “South Florida Museum”) I wondered what I would ask him if I had the chance.
I met my Father-In-Law at the museum and went in. It was the first time I had been to an actual showing of Butcher’s work in all their enormous glory. Shot in either 8″X10″, 11″X14″ or 12″X20″ formats, his images can be printed from 11″X14″ up to 5′X8′. These big, beautiful images take you right where the shots were taken. Standing in front of these images I can feel the earth beneath my feet, wet or dry. I can smell the air, feel the warmth of the sun, hear the birds call. It’s a visceral experience, a virtual absorption into the mind of the artist.
Clyde is 67 years old. He left his career as a successful architect to be a full time landscape photographer a year before I was born. All of the sudden talking to Clyde felt a little daunting.
Clyde Butcher and Thomas Sabo
I bought “Florida Landscape“, a book of Clyde’s images for him to sign. When I approached him I felt instantly at ease. The term “salt of the earth” comes to mind, a friendly and open man.
We spoke about his passion for photography, his leap from architecture to art, and the risks associated with it. I asked if he had any advice on how to “get there” and he gave me the simplest advice I think I’ve ever been given: “Just keep doing it”.
Sometimes I guess it really is that simple. “Just keep doing it.”
There was something else I needed to know. I have a close personal attachment to my photographs. I can remember every circumstance, every feeling, emotional and physical from every shot. I needed to know if I was the only one. With a little more timidity I asked him “Do they call to you?“
He looked up, he had been signing my book when I asked. “What?” he said.
“Your photos,” I replied “do they call to you?“ Wondering if I was sounding as silly if I felt like I was. Then an amazing thing happened. He looked me straight in the eye, with a look of complete understanding and replied with one word.
“Absolutely.”
Nothing more needed to be said. He understood what I was asking and I had gotten my answer. It was really a wonderful moment, meeting what surely was a kindred spirit.
We attended the lecture in the planetarium where both Clyde and Jeff spent an hour projecting their images onto the ceiling of the dome and explaining each individual shot. They were generous with both their knowledge and experiences, sharing both the beauty and the environmental importance of the Florida Everglades. It was a great lecture and I enjoyed it greatly. If you ever have the opportunity to view Clyde and Jeff’s work, take it. If you have an opportunity to hear them speak don’t miss it, you’ll be happy you did.
Clyde Butcher and Thomas Damgaard Sabo
