VENICE, Fla. — Clyde Butcher loved photography as a young adult but paid his bills as an architect. On a whim, in 1970, he took some of his photographs to a local art show to see if anyone may be interested in buying them.
“That weekend he made more money than he did in an entire week as an architect,” said his wife, Niki Butcher. “Then things started getting better.”
For the past five or so decades, Clyde Butcher has been waist-deep in swamp water with a camera on his shoulder. The world-renown photographer, who resides on Florida’s west coast, has snapped breathtaking nature photos from the Everglades to Cuba and even a few from a 2017 trip to Spain.
“It’s just a beautiful way of explaining nature to people. We see bad stuff every day,” he said. “You need to see the good things about Florida.”
Butcher moved to Florida in 1980. His Venice gallery features photos from all different Southeast terrains. Most are black and white shots of swampy Florida scenes. Some of his favorites are from the Myakka River region.
“Art is not defined by time. You can be a painter and do a painting in 15 minutes and it can be great and you can do a painting that took three months and it can be terrible,” he said Tuesday morning surrounded by giant prints of his work. “It doesn’t matter the time. It’s usually the artist.”
The fascinating part of his career can be seen in the back room. His collection of cameras, some nearing a century old, are on display just outside his working dark room.
“This one is from the 1940s,” he said, pointing to a boxy vintage camera.
Butcher was elected into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1998. He works with both film and digital cameras and creates amazing images with both.
“The foundation of what he’s trying to do is awareness, to save these scenes, because if you don’t they’re not going to exist. They’re only going to exist in these photos,” said his apprentice, Paul Tilton.
He and Niki have been married for 56 years. She recalls telling Butcher as an 18-year-old how she wanted a life of adventure.
“I said I wanted a life of adventure. He had no problem with that,” she said. “When you look at a picture you’re reliving the experience and it’s really hard to separate the two.”
The adventure isn’t over.
“The camera doesn’t take the picture. The photographer does.”
The Clyde Butcher Venice Gallery and Studio is open Tuesday through Friday. His work is on display and for sale in multiple forms.
