Photographer Clyde Butcher captures ‘old Florida’ as he finds beauty amid chaos
VENICE, Fla. - Artist Clyde Butch says while his images evoke a feeling of ‘old Florida’, he has trouble defining exactly what that means.
He’s been photographing the Sunshine State for four decades.
"People say after seeing your gallery, I can see Florida better," Butcher shared. "It’s actually helping people see Florida."
Clyde Butcher moved to Florida with his family in 1979. He says it took him four years to find something in the Sunshine State to photograph.
Butcher admits Florida’s beauty was not so obvious to him either when he first moved to the Sunshine State from California with his family in 1979.
"We came here for the sailing. I didn’t see anything here to photograph. It took me four years before I started discovering Florida.
He discovered it the same way he encourages people to do it today- by getting out of their cars.
Clyde Butcher has walked through countless miles of swampland to find the perfect photo op.
"California, you can see mountains from your car. You can’t see Florida from your car. You’ve got to get out into it," he shared.
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His passion was born after a short walk in the woods behind an old roadside attraction in 1983.
Florida photographer Clyde Butcher.
"The next day I came back and took a picture with my camera and I was hooked," he explained. "I’ve been doing it ever since."
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Lugging his large-format film camera, Butcher has been on thousands of hikes in swamps.
Clyde Butcher sets up his large-format camera.
His iconic images have turned Clyde Butcher into a household name.
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"When you have things that are biologically in order, that means it’s chaos and chaos to me is where the beauty is," Butcher said.
Clyde Butcher photograph in a museum.
"The reason I do this is so maybe we can keep some of this for future generations," he added. "People need to understand how everything is interrelated and if you don’t start recognizing the importance of nature, we won’t have nature anymore."
Butcher says "old Florida" may be shrinking a little bit with so many people moving to the Sunshine State, but he hopes to preserve it in old photographs.