Gator Hook #1, 2009 silver gelatin print
AMERICA’S EVERGLADES Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher
COURTESY OF PENSACOLA MUSEUM OF ART • IMAGES COURTESY OF CLYDE BUTCHER
A
ccording to studies commissioned by The Nature Conservancy, Florida is one of the most biodiverse states in the United States. We rank 7th with 4,368 known animal species and 6th for vascular plant diversity, with 3,038 species. Florida also ranks among the top five states in endemic species—animals and plants only found in our state. We have 269 species of animals that can only be found in Florida. With such a rich tapestry of flora and fauna, writers, photographers, artists and nature lovers have hiked, biked and explored the various regions of our state for years to uncover its unique and biodiverse areas. With his century-old camera, Clyde Butcher has been exploring and documenting the Everglades for more than three decades. The result is a stunning collection of large-format black-andwhite photographs that depict untouched parts of the nation’s
largest subtropical wilderness. The rugged and remote beauty of the Everglades is captured in these works which span over thirty years of foraging into dense swampland. Delicate ecosystems, rare botanical specimens, and sweeping landscapes bring the wonder of this mysterious part of our country to light. This summer, the Pensacola Museum of Art will be featuring Butcher’s captivating photographs in the exhibition, America’s Everglades: Through the Lens of Clyde Butcher. The scale, extraordinary clarity and tonal range set his photographs apart as exceptional works of art, earning him recognition as the foremost landscape photographer in America today. These powerful black and white images are portraits of the eternal bond between man and nature that is the soul of the Everglades. From the deepest cypress strands of the sawgrass prairies, coastal waters, and languid estuaries, to pinpoint still-lives of rare species, Clyde reveals its ecosystems in magnificent detail. He makes an PENSACOLA MAGAZINE | 23
