Meeting Clyde
Butcher was something of a dream of mine. I’ve been a fan for a handful of
years now, am on his email list and I follow him on Facebook. I knew he was
hosting the Big Cypress Gallery Fun Swamp Event on October 31 and November 1,
so I made plans to spend the weekend in Everglades City at River Wilderness
Waterfront Villas so I could meet him in person. To me, Clyde is one of the
most influential black and white photographers, or at least his work has
influenced me in ways that have changed my life and the way I approach what I
do as a photographer.
I decided to attend his Big Cypress
Gallery opening extra early to keep from standing in what I thought was going
to be a very long line to meet him. Upon arriving at the gallery, there were
quite a few people outside speaking with the rangers and signing up for the
swamp walk. That day, I was not interested in the swamp walk. I headed on into
the gallery where I was greeted pleasantly by a lady at the reception area. She asked if I was there for the swamp
walk. I told her no, whereafter she asked if I was there to meet Clyde. I said
yes, and showed her the two books I had purchased from the gallery about two
years prior, and how excited I was for Clyde to sign them. She said he would be
in the gallery in a few minutes and showed me inside.
I browsed the gallery in complete awe, my
usual state while viewing Clyde’s work. I was admiring images he had captured
in Jupiter, Florida, and when I looked up, Clyde was entering the room with a
cup of tea.
Clyde greeted me pleasantly. After
introductions, we began a conversation about photography while he took me on a
mini-tour of the gallery and his digitally captured images. In the midst of our
conversation, as he was explaining to me about being out in the wild and why
gators don’t bother him, he suddenly pointed to one of his images and stated
emphatically: “I wanted to capture the whole
situation that was going on.” The way he worded that phrase gave me pause. The whole situation. I had never thought
of a landscape scene in quite that way before. It gave me a complete
understanding of the way he thinks and feels about a scene, even before he sets
up his camera. The word "situation"
for me meant stillness, silence, and action, all coming together at the same decisive
point of view.
That statement made such a profound impact
on me. From now on, I will use that knowledge when photographing a landscape. I
will ask myself “how do I convey not just what
I feel about this scene, but how can I better convey what is before me.” In other words, I must first set up the shot in
my consciousness, and then bring the
image into the physical world with emotion, vision, and action.
I heard Clyde say something else that day
that was equally as profound. He was speaking to another fan who had happened
into the room we were in. He too was beaming to meet Clyde. He had a video
camera in his hand and asked Clyde permission to shoot some video in the
gallery. Clyde gave him the go-ahead, and the man, who spoke with a heavy English
accent, asked Clyde “How do you use your camera to take such pictures?” to
which Clyde answered by saying "My camera doesn't take the picture, I do.
The camera is just an instrument I use to show the world my view." Now
that might not be what he said verbatim, but again, I found myself plunged into
another “ah ha!” moment, one that was even more profound because in this we
share the exact same viewpoint.
These were just some of the things I have
learned from Clyde Butcher. I was like a sponge, soaking up every bit of
knowledge that he shared with me. What a great day. He signed my books, and I
also purchased one of his prints called "Little Butternut Key 1" The
image can be seen here, [Little Butternut Key 1]. He signed the back of the
print as well, and I pre-ordered his new book, which will be mailed to me when
it is available.
I love the Florida Everglades. It is about
a two-hour drive from Pahokee, FL, The town I was born and raised. I find it so
amazing that I was raised in this area and had never until fairly recently seen
Clyde Butcher’s mesmerizing Everglades landscapes. I discovered Clyde's work
about three years ago through a friend who had previously viewed his work and
thought I should see it. We went to a showing at the Orlando Museum of Arts in
Winter Park Florida, and I was instantly awestruck and amazingly uplifted as I
entered the exhibit room. I felt like I was floating around the exhibit, buoyed
by complete admiration, and blessed by the presence of each image.
I felt drawn into each print, captivated
by each situation. I felt peaceful
emotions move through me as I walked in the presence of alligators. Birds held
their places on branches and beaches as I journeyed close by, as though my
being was a naturally occurring thing. I was able to peer under and around
cypress knees, and be dwarfed at the base of huge cypress trees. I moved over
silky waters, with clouds that rolled across the sky just below heaven. I
strolled through marshes and mangroves, over beaches with dunes on a landscape
that went on into infinity. I was no longer in the museum but being pulled into
the Dead Lakes, teeming with life, floating over wetlands as I became a part of
the Fakahatchee Stand. I traveled Tupelo Creek, Three Sisters Springs,
Fish-Eating Creek, and I rested below a memorial tree. And after this short but
infinite journey, I floated back into the museum with the mantra playing over
and over in my mind: I must meet him, I
must meet Clyde Butcher, for I knew what I was seeing was beyond photography
and into the mystic. Finally, on October 31, 2015, this dream was realized.
Thank you, Mr. Butcher, for your
contribution. The gifts you have given to the world through your photography has
inspired me, and no doubt millions of others. Your work whispers to us all not to
just keep shooting, but to try and
see and feel that invisible, ever-present, ever-peaceful creative energy. Your
images so perfectly encapsulate the movements, the essence of that eternal
energy. When I view your work, I think: there
I am, that peace that exists in the midst of wildness, that which neither man
nor animal can disturb.
Here is an image of Clydes new book it arrived on time for me to place in my blog, its more of a photography story book very different from the other books I have purchased of his.
