Clyde Butcher

Clyde Butcher
Clyde Butcher
Occupation	Black-and-white photographer
Website	Gallery Homepage

Clyde Butcher (born 1941) is an American photographer known for wilderness photography of the Florida landscape. He began his career doing color photography before switching to large scale black-and-white landscape photography after the death of his son. Butcher is a strong advocate of conservation efforts and uses his work to promote awareness of the beauty of natural places.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Clyde Butcher led a nomadic childhood with his parents, until they settled in Southern California when he was 18. He attended California Polytechnic University in 1960 with a major in architecture. While visiting Yosemite National Park in 1963, he learned about the photography studies of Ansel Adams.

During his senior year of college, Butcher married his college sweetheart Niki.

During college, Butcher presented his architecture projects by creating and photographing miniature-scale models instead of making drawings.

After graduation, Butcher began a career in architecture. He was responsible for a portion of the design of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California. Upon losing his job, Butcher began showing his photography at local art festivals. He soon realized that he could make more money in photography than he was making in architecture. By 1970, he left architecture for landscape photography.

Eventually, Butcher had a partnership that marketed and sold his images to the wall décor departments of Sears, Montgomery Ward, and J. C. Penney. He eventually accrued around 200 employees and offices in Akron, Ohio and Southern California. In order to increase sales, Butcher added color photography. The bulk of his photography during this time took place west of the Rocky Mountains and in the Pacific Northwest.

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