Fort Myers, Florida - The Southwest Florida Museum of History proudly announces the debut exhibit of husband and wife photographers Niki & Clyde Butcher opening Thursday, August 20th ONLY at the SWFL Museum of History.
“Historic Florida Architecture and American Landscape” Photography Exhibit by Niki & Clyde Butcher will run through October 31st. A first in Florida and an exclusive for the Museum, the duo will exhibit collectively up to 30 of their photographic specialties in a first-ever joint exhibition.
Beloved fine-arts black and white photographer Clyde Butcher will display a dozen of his landscapes from the America the Beautiful collection including striking photographs that were composed in national parks such as Yosemite National Park in California and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
“Wilderness, to me, is a spiritual necessity,” notes Butcher on his web site, as he has made photographing nature his life’s work. Renowned for his spectacular black and white landscape photographs, Clyde Butcher’s work has been featured in several publications and most recently, in a book commissioned to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Jamestown. His acclaimed book compiling National Park landscapes, ‘America the Beautiful’, reveals the American landscape through Butcher’s iconic mastery of black and white photography.
Premiering by her husband’s side, Niki Butcher, will exhibit up to 15 stunning hand-colored black and white photographs of Florida architecture in an artistic style popularized in the 1920’s and 30’s. Before the advent of color photography, painting black and white photographs was a popular technique that has since become a lost art.
Niki watched as a dignified old conch home was torn down and replaced by a sterile building, and felt compelled to photographically record Florida’s unique architecture and culture before it disappeared. “It was then that I felt the desire to record Florida’s unique buildings in a photographic preservation of our state’s history through its architecture.” Thirty years ago she began focusing her camera on the fading facades and changing cultures of Florida, capturing old shacks on sagging stilts, conch homes in the Florida Keys, and the mysterious cypress strands of the Everglades.
Remembering the gentle surreal feel of those old Florida post cards, Niki chose to interpret her photographic images by hand-painting the scenes in colors that represented her emotions at the time she took the photograph. “I like to take an image, and then add color that might not be entirely true to the original scene, but it helps me elicit an ambiance, or a fleeting feeling that I want to capture. I also delight in the idea that I’ve revived a photographic technique that once was popular, but now is nearly forgotten.” The exhibit will be complemented by videos of Butcher’s work and methods, as well as an exclusive display of one of Clyde’s trademark Deardorf cameras. Niki’s art tools will also be displayed for museum patron’s to gain a greater understanding of the hand-coloring process. Be sure to stop by the museum store which will feature books, notecards, prints and other merchandise from Niki and Clyde Butcher, along with information about the Butchers’ annual Muck About thru the Everglades, September 5th-7th. For more information about the Butchers, their photography, or their guided Everglades excursion, visit www.clydebutcher.com.
True fans won’t want to miss a specially scheduled Author’s Evening featuring Clyde Butcher on Thursday, August 20th at the Museum from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Reservations are required as space is limited, and tickets are $10 per person. The Museum’s popular Author’s Evening series returns in October but Clyde will be featured for this special season warm-up. The events include the Author’s presentation, coffee, and dessert courtesy of Mason’s Bakery. All funds raised support the SWFL Museum of History Foundation for special exhibitions such as the Butchers’ photography exhibit, Forbidden History, Lucy, Roswell, and King Tut.
Call 239-321-7430 NOW, to reserve a space for this limited seating engagement that will surely fill up fast!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Matt Johnson, General Manager of Southwest Florida Museum of History
Shelby Baucom, Assistant General Manager, 239-321-7425
Helena Finnegan, Public Relations/Marketing Manager, 239-321-7409
Media Alert: For press kits and images, please email: Hfinnegan@cityftmyers.com