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Landscape photographer Clyde Butcher is often compared to Ansel Adams because of his exquisitely crafted black-and-white images of the Florida Everglades; a comparison Clyde considers a compliment. However, Clyde is quick to point out that his images are about “spaces,” whereas Adams’ images are about “things.” Clyde describes his preference for black-and-white images by stating, “Color is a duplication of nature, black-and-white is an interpretation." He suggests that most photographers have a preconceived notion of what they are going to photograph instead of letting the world come to them. By letting the world come to you, as a photographer, Clyde suggests that you will find what you are looking for, whatever it may be. The exclusion of people in his images is deliberate. He says that putting a person in an image disengages the viewers from the scene, assigning the viewers’ space to that person. Clyde wants viewers to be fully engaged in the image he has created. A personal tragedy changed Clyde’s life forever. In 1986, his teenage son, Ted, was killed when a drunken driver crashed into the car in which young Butcher was riding. Creating something positive out of something negative was Clyde’s way of making something meaningful out of his son’s life. By seeking solace in the Everglades, he realized that human encroachment could lead to the loss of this natural wonder just as easily. In recent years, Clyde has become a passionate preservationist. Realizing that human impact in the form of development was behind the loss of more and more of Florida’s wetlands, he set a course aimed at making people realize that the loss of this magnificent and fragile environment with its unique natural beauty would be an enormous loss to future generations. Clyde’s website (http://clydebutcher.com/journal.cfm?holdtype=129) offers a wealth of information about the man and his work as well as fascinating information about his 1,600 square foot darkroom, the seven vertical enlargers and the one horizontal enlarger that can handle negatives ranging in sizes from 4x 5" to 12x 20.”
Clyde Butcher: Whew…that’s a book in itself! I entered college (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, California) as a math major and saw how much fun the architectural students seem to be having and decided to become an architect. It wasn’t until I entered architecture as a major that I found out I was missing some key knowledge. I didn’t know how to draw. I had never drawn a picture of anything, so when it came time for me to draw images of my designs, I was at a loss. I decided that the option for me was to build architectural models of my designs and then photograph them. I found some small pine trees that had recently been planted up in the hills above the college and built my models to that scale. They were giant models compared to the tiny ones everyone else was building. My instructor told me I’d either get an F or an A—nothing inbetween. He didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I got an A+. In order to photograph my architectural models, I had to learn photography. I couldn’t afford a camera so I built myself a pinhole camera. Bought some film, loaded it, took the picture and everything came out black. I did this several times with the same result. Went to the camera store and discussed it with the owner. The problem: I had loaded the film into the camera in the light, which naturally exposed the film. I’ve come a long way! I eventually built myself a camera that would fit into architectural models so that I could ‘get into’ the space. I took a Canon Rangefinder 24mm lens, put a permanent f/64 stop and fixed focus in it, removed the housing and put the lens in a metal tube to make it smaller, then put the whole thing into a small Plexiglas box painted black. The camera held one sheet of 35mm film. Since it had no shutter I exposed the film by turning on and off the studio lights. When I graduated from college I started a business building and photographing architectural models. (That’s a complete book too….) In the meantime I’d become somewhat proficient at photography and was enjoying photographing the landscape for fun.
DE: Your website mentions that you started as an architectural model photographer and transitioned into landscape photography. Can you tell us how this seemingly enormous difference in visual perception came about? CB: Photographing architectural models was a great way for me to learn how to photograph the landscape. I’m really glad I had that experience. It is hard to explain how that learning experience helped my landscape photography, but I’ll try… The purpose of a presentation to a client who is interested in an architectural design is to make that client feel like he is seeing the building as though it has already been built. In other words, the three dimensional design in my head, is created three dimensionally through an architectural model, then photographed and presented to the client on a two dimensional surface…the photographic paper. In order to impress the client with the design he has to feel the three dimensional quality. It took me a few years to figure out how to do that, but I finally did. I suppose that is why everyone always thought my architectural models had already been built and were actual buildings. The same thing happens in landscape. I see the space…it is three dimensional, I photograph it and then present it on a two-dimensional plane, the photographic paper. However, in order for the viewer to feel the scene, I have to photograph it so that the final print has a three dimensional quality. I think that may explain why people are always saying to me, “I feel like I am there.” I learned how to do that photographing architectural models.
CB: I feel as though the human brain is tickled by detail. The more detail the eye can see, the more enjoyable it is for the brain. I wanted my images to be sharp at just about any size that I can conceive of doing. I wanted to tickle the brain of others…You can only do that with a piece of large film. I suppose I pushed the limit on that by photographing with a 12x20 camera and then enlarging that negative. (I built a 12x20 enlarger from an old copy camera from a printing shop) When I blow those images up to 5x8 feet you can see the insect holes in the blades of grass…now that is really tickling the brain! However, I rarely use that camera…it is a REAL hassle to work with. I mostly use an 8x10. DE: For the technophobes in our readership, can you tell us if you have a preferred film choice and why? Also, do you use different developers for different situations? CB: I use T-Max 100 because it looks good. No, I don’t play around with different developers. I use T-Max developer for T-Max film…I wait for the right light so that I don’t need to do all of that “fancy” stuff. DE: Your work is often compared with that of Ansel Adams. However, you make the distinction of “things” and “spaces.” Could you elaborate on what you mean by this? CE: I create room for the person to walk into the picture, whereas Adams images were … perhaps… more graphic than mine. His are composed of shape, form and texture. Mine are spaces…in most of my images, in the center of the photograph, where the subject should be, there is a vacant space for you, the viewer, to walk into. DE: What sort of planning do you do before going out on a shoot? CB: I make sure I have my equipment ready and then follow the light.
CB: An image I call the Dunes. It’s a long story as to how I ended up photographing this part of Florida, but to make the story short…I was there for a week waiting for the light to be right. It was overcast with the sun occasionally breaking through. Taking a picture of sand dunes without any shadows just doesn’t work, so I was waiting for the light to hit the dunes. I’d watch the sun sparkling on the Gulf of Mexico and slowly twinkle toward the shore and then…POOF! It was gone. Did that for a week and was almost ready to pack up and leave when it happened! I managed to shoot two pieces of film, then the scene was gone… DE: The Everglades is home to numerous wild creatures, among them American crocodiles, alligators, Florida panthers, bears and several species of venomous snakes, not to mention mosquitoes. This is perceived to be dangerous and seriously uncomfortable place by many people. Have you ever had a wildlife encounter that you felt uncomfortable with? CB: No….well, actually once a very large gator got too curious while I was standing in the water and I had to hit him on the nose with a paddle. He left the scene. But for the most part, wild animals do not like humans. The only problems are if you bother them during mating season or approach (even accidentally) their young. I try to be highly aware of what is going on around me when I’m out there so that I don’t irritate any wild animal. DE: Is the Everglades the only location you have photographed? CB: I have photographed all over the United States, Cuba and the Czech Republic. My most recent project is called “America the Beautiful – the Monumental Landscape.” It is an exhibit of my work, presented in very large sizes—up to 5x8 feet—from across the United States. The Muscarelle Museum at the William and Mary College in Virginia has it on display until Dec 8 and then it will be traveling around the country. The exhibit was created to help celebrate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. Some of the images are older images, but most of them are recent and photographed in the last two years.
CB: That’s a hard question. Every award is a deep honor. I appreciate the fact that people like my work enough to give me those honors. Getting to this point has been a long road. I have photographed for the love of it…never for the money or honor of it…so getting awards is always amazing to me. But, I guess the best one is the Hall of Fame Award in the state capitol at Tallahassee Florida. It is the highest honor a private citizen can receive from the state. DE: You seem to specialize in large prints. What are the largest prints you have ever made? CB: A couple of years ago I completed an “Art in Public Places” project for the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. I created three images, each were 6 x16 feet. Two were photographed in Broward County and one of the Florida Keys. My intent was to show the three basic eco-systems in South Florida; grass, swamp, and mangroves. It was a fun and challenging project. The hardest part of it was figuring out how to hang those very large images above an escalator! If you are coming into Ft. Lauderdale, they are located in Terminal 3. I am currently working on another project for the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy. They are preserving a Seminole Historic site and needed an image for the educational center. I have photographed the site and then will make a 10 foot x 25 foot photograph for a wall in the building. DE: How many books have you had published? Are they all still available and where can they be purchased? What other publications do you have? CB: Around ten books. A few of them can be purchased at Borders, but probably only in Florida. I mostly sell my books through my gallery or in the gift shops when I do museum shows. We also have note cards and every year we produce a calendar. This year we also made a catalog to go along with the America the Beautiful exhibit that will be traveling.
CB: Life has so many doors that open…and when this one opened, I stepped into it and gained a wonderful friendship with Elam Stoltzfus of Live Oak Production Group. Back in 1990 The South Water Management District in Florida wanted to do a film to educate the people of Florida about the water system in the state. Elam was, at that time, working for another production group. He was the young, enthusiastic, video camera man. The South Water Management District chose me to be the person who guides the viewer through the different water areas of South Florida. It was a great idea to use an artist instead of a scientist to explain the beauty of the place. The production group, my wife, Niki, and I spent two weeks together filming, then continued filming on and off for another several weeks. The film was aired on PBS and became an award winning film. During the filming I found in Elam a fellow soul mate in the way we both view nature and life. We have created several films together since then and have been friends and artists working down the same road to use our art to help people see the beauty around them. It’s been a fun trip with Elam. DE: What projects do you have planned for the future? CB: Strange as it may seem, the answer is shooting the Everglades. I haven’t done much photography in the Everglades National Park—except by boat—mangroves and such. I want to shoot the “land” part of the Park. I also want to shoot the entire system. I have already photographed most of it, but there are major gaps here and there. My goal is to produce a book that covers the ecosystem from its headwaters near Disney World to the Ten Thousand Islands. DE: This is the “digital age” according to many observers. Is there any possibility that you may “go digital” in the future? CB: Lugging around a 60 pound backpack surely makes me wish someone could create a digital camera that can do what an 8x10 or 11x14 piece of film can do, but I don’t think it will happen. I also like the feeling of having the negative and that the negative will last without any technology to preserve it. I will be shooting film as long as I live. However, I currently scan many of my negatives and use the digital technology of Photoshop to produce the image. In the gallery we carry both prints from the wet darkroom, silver gelatin photograph, and prints from the computer, giclee’s. Niki uses a Canon EOS Digital Rebel, so I bought myself one too, but it’s just for having fun. If I’m serious about a picture, I use film. Just a quick word about the new digital age: I have always believed that the art of photography is a technical art form. With every generation new technology comes into the field…better lenses, better paper, better cameras, etc…Now we have this new technology in the field of photography and it is not better or worse than “traditional” photography. It is just different. Clyde Butcher’s Equipment • Film: T-Max 100 developed in T-Max developer • Light Meter: Pentax Spot Meter • Tri-pod: Benbo • Filters: red, orange, yellow • Cameras: 12x20 Wisner with 210, 360, 550, 720 and 1100mm lenses 11x14 Deardorf with 150, 210, 360, 550, and 720mm lenses 8x10 Deardorf with 90, 120, 150, 210, 300, 550 and 720mm lenses 5x7 Deardorf with 72, 110, 150, 210, 240, 300 and 450mm lenses To see more of Clyde Butcher’s work, visit www.clydebutcher.com. CLICK HERE TO SEE A GALLERY OF CLYDE BUTCHER'S IMAGES© Copyright 2002 by Photoworkshop.com |
