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Meet the “Ansel Adams” of Florida, Photographer Clyde Butcher

Last Updated on September 24, 2022

Meet photographer Clyde Butcher, the gifted landscape photographer who specializes in large format black and white images and considered Florida’s Ansel Adams.

This post was written by Authentic Florida and originally published with Visit Sarasota.

Photo of Clyde Butcher in his dark room
Photographer Clyde Butcher in his Venice darkroom

He’s a large man with a full Santa Claus beard and eyes that twinkle behind wire-frame glasses. Looking constrained as he sits at a small desk in his Venice office cubicle it’s obvious this is not a man who spends his time indoors.

But lately, he has been indoors a lot more than he would like. After suffering a stroke in May, Butcher, at age 75, is journeying back to fieldwork with one rather specific goal. “I just want to get back on the water in my canoe,” quips Butcher. The stroke may have affected Butcher’s physical abilities but not for long. He plans to be back outside traipsing through swamps, camera, and tripod in tow, photographing the majestic natural beauty of Florida within a few short months.

Photo of Clyde Butcher in a canoe
Clyde Butcher, Oscar Scherer State Park

For those who are unfamiliar with Clyde Butcher, he is a gifted fine art photographer specializing in black and white large format landscape images. He has been called Florida’s Ansel Adams. Butcher has gained fame photographing Florida’s outdoors (and landscapes throughout North America), and displaying his work in enormous-sized prints. His expansive horizons and powerful images also intimately connect the viewer to areas of Florida many have never witnessed.

Photo of Clyde and Niki Butcher with a camera
Clyde and Niki Butcher

He and his wife Niki frequently trek through beautiful, and often remote, areas of the state, photographing the stillness and beauty of Florida. Most people agree that once you’ve witnessed his photographic artistry, you’ll appreciate the state with a fresh, and deeper perspective.

Photo of Fisheating creek by Clyde Butcher
Fisheating Creek, Clyde Butcher

Clyde initially moved to Florida from California in the late 1970s after selling a successful photography business. And though his roots had been in black and white he had switched to color to meet market demand. So, when he first arrived in Florida he photographed images in color. But then in 1986 tragedy struck the Butcher family when Clyde and Niki’s 17-year old son, Ted, was tragically struck and killed by a drunk driver. Clyde “lost the color from his life,” and committed fully to black and white photography, and found solace in capturing images of nature.

Photo of Cayo Costa Park by Clyde Butcher
Cayo Costa State Park, Clyde Butcher

Through years of grief, he never returned to color, dedicating his craft to black and white photography. But, he learned something more in the process. “There is so much color in Florida, that it’s actually distracting to the eye. So, my theory is that we don’t see the true image as well as when photos are contrasted in a black and white format.”

Even in the face of tragedy, his new artistic style transformed him into one of Florida’s most formidable artists. Butcher’s lengthy list of national, international, and state awards recognizes his artistic, humanitarian, and conservation achievements. He is a recipient of the Florida Artist Hall of Fame Award, an invited TED speaker, and has been personally featured in many award-winning film documentaries.

Photo of Casey Key by Clyde Butcher
Casey Key, Sarasota, Clyde Butcher

To see his work, visit one of Butcher’s three galleries: Venice Gallery; the Big Cypress Gallery south of Naples; and the recently opened Sarasota Gallery on St. Armands Circle. All galleries feature his large-scale black and white photos, along with calendars and coffee table books. Observers are in for a visual feast while admiring the images as Butcher’s work entices you to join him in his walk through the beauty of Florida. The wide-angle view and large format, with his combined artistic techniques of light, composition, and texture, draw the viewer in as if stepping into the primordial beauty of Florida nature.

“People, whether visitors or residents, don’t realize what a beautiful state Florida is and the extent of our diversity,” shares Butcher. He further shares this insight about his perspective. “In the western United States, photographing natural landscapes like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite is about geology, whereas in Florida it’s all about biology. There is a subtle beauty of plants, trees, and water – surrounding us everywhere – even in our own backyards.”

Photo of Walton Ranch by Clyde Butcher
Walton Ranch, Sarasota, Clyde Butcher

When Clyde reflects on his favorite areas in Florida, he credits “the moment he really understood Florida” to an unplanned stop at Tom Gaskin’s Cypress Knee Museum, a legendary “old Florida” roadside attraction. Invited by Gaskin to take a walk on a boardwalk outback he discovered an almost magical cypress swamp along a tributary feeding into Lake Okeechobee called Fisheating Creek. The stand of tall cypress trees reminded him of the California Redwoods from his past. Overall, that moment transformed his view of Florida. That same week he was introduced to another photographer and Floridian, Oscar Thompson, who took him into the Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades. There, he also found his future home. To this day, Clyde has become one of the most influential champions of the swamp.

It was in this swamp that Clyde and Niki Butcher decided to set up their home and gallery. Along the Tamiami Trail between Naples and Miami is the Clyde Butcher Big Cypress Art Gallery. This is one of the few businesses along a seemingly endless roadway.

Photo of an egret
Cypress Swamp, Robin Draper

The gallery is actually within the boundaries of the Big Cypress National Preserve. This is a biologically diverse ecosystem that is distinct from the Everglades. Covered in fresh water and also dotted with dense hammocks of Bald Cypress trees, the Big Cypress is essentially a slow-moving river. It gently flows towards Florida’s Gulf coast, emptying into prolific estuaries that serve as nurseries for Florida’s marine life. Overall, it is a place of immense natural beauty and relative isolation from Florida’s developed areas.

Photo of people on a swamp walk
Clyde Butcher Swamp Walk, Big Cypress, Robin Draper

After years of spending time in the Big Cypress and the Everglades, Clyde and his family also wanted to share their love and appreciation of the area and to dispel the notion that these places are scary and dangerous. So, they created a walking tour of the area and the Swamp Walk was born.

Photo of a woman on a Swamp Walk
Swamp Walk, Big Cypress Swamp, Robin Draper

Swamp Walks are conducted directly behind the Big Cypress Gallery. Clyde owns 13 acres there and he and his staff have been giving tours for more than 20 years. These are get-your-feet-wet walks. And sometimes you will also be wading knee-high or more through the swamp. But people love it.

Whether you walk the swamp or witness Clyde Butcher’s photos in a gallery, or at a friend’s home or office, you will likely be transformed by the images.

“One thing I love is watching people leave the walks, or my shows and galleries, with a smile,” Butcher says.

Photo of Clyde Butcher and a camera in Fisheating Creek
Clyde Butcher, Fisheating Creek

And he clearly wants people to connect to the work. He hopes to forge an emotional bond that instills the same love for nature, and also the desire to conserve and protect natural resources, that he feels. As Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns said, “Like the work of Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher’s remarkable photographs give us an access to nature we rarely see or experience … they also remind us of the abiding kinship we mortals share when we work together to preserve these magnificent places.”

1 thought on “Meet the “Ansel Adams” of Florida, Photographer Clyde Butcher”

  1. My husband & I have been to his studio and enjoyed every minute. Clyde Butcher really brings Florida alive to all of us!

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