Photographer displays natural link to Florida subject matter

Photographer Clyde Butcher started taking photos of the Everglades in order to heal after a drunk driver killed his son.

“You would call him a ‘landscape photographer,’ but there is something about the photos that he was taking that (suggest much more) … every photo is personal,” says Jane Buckman, executive director of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design.

The photos are large scale — up to 6 feet by by 10 feet. Each photo is accompanied with a vignette that explains the story behind it.

For the past 40 years, Butcher has been taking black-and-white photos of untouched Florida landscape. He has a studio in Venice but is known internationally.

He has been awarded the Artist Hall of Fame Award from the state of Florida; the Heartland Community Service Award from the state of Florida; the Ansel Adams Conservation Award from The Sierra Club; been named Humanitarian of the Year for 2005 from International University; and he has been featured on two award-winning PBS documentaries, “Visions of Florida,” and “Big Cypress Preserve: Jewel of the Everglades.”

“He is a person of such prominent reputation living in our area, and it seemed like an appropriate fit to invite him to exhibit at Longboat Key Center for the Arts,” says Buckman. “It was just wonderful that they agreed to show.”

The 2012 feature artist exhibit opens Thursday, Jan. 19, in the Durante Gallery, at the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design, 6860 Longboat Drive S. Call 383-2345 for information.

IF YOU GO
Opening reception for Clyde Butcher exhibit
When: 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19
Where: Longboat Key Center for the Arts, a Division of Ringling College of Art and Design, 6860 Longboat Drive S.
Cost: Recommended donation is $10
Info: Call 383-2345