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| Clyde Butcher, photographed by Woody Walters |
Around this time three years ago, I took part in Clyde Butcher's annual "Muck About." I traveled with friends to spend a day photographing and "mucking about" in the Everglades, and to visit the gallery of a great photographer.
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| Click to enlarge | Clyde Butcher | Loxahatchee River #1 |
Clyde Butcher is renowned for his exquisite photographs of Florida, and in particular, his views of the Everglades. He wades through the water, using antique cameras, to capture images of Florida that are fast disappearing. Butcher's images, always black and white, range in size up to 5 x 9 feet.
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| Clyde Butcher | Everglades Restoration "Can Do" |
Clyde Butcher is important, not just for his fine art, but also because he brings attention to the Everglades, which is under assault from those who would reroute its resources, and develop and destroy it.
Though people often think of the Everglades as a huge swamp, it is in fact a unique ecosystem, a slow-moving river that is home to over a 1,000 species of plants and over 350 species of birds. According to the Everglades Foundation, 67 threatened and endangered species reside within the Everglades. In her famous 1947 book, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas named this remarkable spot the "River of Grass." The Everglades is both a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.
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| Click to enlarge | Sandy Gonzalez, 2008 |
My favorite shot of the day was this serene view, taken by my friend Sandy. Wouldn't this make a striking mural? Below are some of my own Everglades images.
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
This may look like a tinted photograph, but in fact this bright red plant sprung up amidst very gray vegetation. It was quite a surprise to come upon it.
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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Mark D. Ruffner, 2008 |
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| Mark | Sandy Gonzalez, 2008 |
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