How Clyde Butcher and His Photographs Help Preserve the Everglades

One National Treasure Deserves Another: Clyde Butcher and His Photographs Help Preserve the Everglades

Sun, sand, Disney World and palm trees. That’s often the extent of many people’s perception of the state of Florida. Such was the case with Clyde Butcher when he and his wife Niki arrived from California in 1980. And despite liking the beaches, the talented landscape photographer decided there was nothing interesting enough to shoot. After all, how could his new surroundings compete with the magnificence of places he had previously photographed, like Yosemite or the Rockies? Besides, the main draw for the cross-country move had been sailing as opposed to fresh subject matter for still imagery.

Butcher did still take photographs to sell, usually in color. But in terms of anything really capturing his soul, those days seemed to be in the past. Then one day, while driving along US-27 on the way to an art show, he and his wife decided to pull over and check out a little place called Tom Gaskins Cypress Knee Museum.

Named after the “knees” of cypress trees, the museum showcased large, knobby root growths Gaskins had dug out, steamed, peeled, cored and then polished to a satiny-golden finish. There was also a 3/4-mile catwalk that twisted through the swamp out back, which Butcher wandered along. When he reached the small platform at the end, something hit him. “It was just gorgeous,” he says. “Suddenly I felt like I was back in the middle of the Redwood Forest in California.” He returned the following day with his camera and a growing sense that something different was beginning to touch his soul.

The inspiration continued in 1984 when Butcher met Oscar Thompson, a fifth-generation Floridian who was also a photographer and nature lover. One afternoon at Thompson’s camera shop, Butcher was peeking at some slides and wondering where the shots had been taken. Was it Africa? Perhaps the Amazon? When he asked about them, Butcher was shocked to learn they came not from some foreign jungle, but close by at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida’s Western Everglades.

Could they go so he could see for himself? Oscar Thompson was happy to take his new friend to visit the rivers and swamps and countless other things few people ever get to experience firsthand. Butcher’s perception of Florida was changed forever – and with it, his career.

A Place Where Everything Is One

Thinking about the degree to which people understand the Everglades, it didn’t take long for Butcher to realize his new work would need to be shot exclusively in black and white. “All that color can get you confused and you can’t see the whole composition,” he says. “The water and trees and sky… it’s all one element.”

Along with composition, the large-scale size of Butcher’s work is also significant as it creates the sense of walking into the locations and actually feeling them as he does. “You’ve got to be able to feel something in order to love it,” he says.

Sometimes Butcher will spend a full day in one spot. He’ll even go back and forth for a whole week if that’s what it takes to feel it entirely. “You’ve got to be still, and quiet, to really immerse yourself and experience a location,” he says. “Most people are always on a journey, moving from place to place, so I try to motivate them with my photographs to slow down and just ‘be’ somewhere for a bit.”

Slowing down to experience and perhaps come to love beautiful locations would become the special ingredient in Butcher’s photographs. And for over 40 years, his work has helped educate people, including politicians and even presidents, about the importance and sensitivity of the Everglades, and why this magnificent natural resource needs to be preserved.

To support that education, Butcher and his wife opened the Big Cypress Gallery in 1993. Located along the scenic Tamiami Trail (US-41) about 47 miles east of Naples, the gallery features the largest selection of Butcher’s photographs and, despite its remote address, is visited every year by thousands of people from all over the world. “Hopefully the gallery and my work will help keep the Everglades the Everglades,” says Butcher. “As opposed to reminding people what the Everglades once was.”

There’s Simply Nothing Like a Swamp Walk

Going deep into the inside of Florida for the first time was a profound experience for Butcher. He also realized that, unlike the grand vistas back west, you couldn’t see all the magic from a car. You had to literally get out and get in. So, along with showing people the Everglades through his photographs, he decided to offer them the opportunity to feel the Everglades in person by participating in his now-famous swamp walks. And yes, they’re exactly what they sound like.

Behind the gallery, you can literally get into the swamp for a guided tour through Big Cypress National Preserve. You’ll wade through the waters beneath ancient cypress trees, immersed in the primordial beauty of Clyde Butcher’s world and surrounded by a million acres of unspoiled wilderness. It’s a rare chance to experience the enchanting environment that inspired Butcher’s work. More importantly, it may even inspire you to support conservation efforts in your own way.

Whether you’d like to see Clyde Butcher’s work in person, visit Big Cypress Gallery to learn more about the Everglades or get your feet wet on a swamp walk, ONLY Paradise will do.