Ludington gallery hosts work of world renowned photographer

Ludington gallery hosts work of world renowned photographer

LUDINGTON — The black-and-white photography of world-renowned photographer Clyde Butcher will be celebrated during a public reception at Todd & Brad Reed Photo Gallery in downtown Ludington on Tuesday, June 20.

“Brad Reed, Rachel Gaudette and I are humbled and honored to have been selected to host an exhibit of Clyde Butcher’s marvelous American landscape photographs at our downtown Ludington gallery,” Todd Reed said. “Clyde has been a photography hero of ours for years.”

“We are excited to also be exhibiting the hand-painted black-and-white photographs of Clyde’s wife Niki.,” Todd said. The joint exhibit is open to the public now and will be on display through July 9. The exhibit reception on June 20 will run from 5:30 – 8 p.m. The Todd & Brad Reed Photo Gallery is located at 114 W. Ludington Ave. and is open Sundays from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Mondays through Wednesdays from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.

A short video documentary interview of Clyde Butcher created by Todd, Brad, and Rachel for the Ludington exhibit will debut during the reception on June 20. Clyde and Niki Butcher will not be present. Footage and still photographs from a photo shoot that Todd, Brad, and Rachel were able to do with Clyde in Florida’s Myakka River State Park will also be included.

Clyde Butcher has photographed the wild places of Florida, as well as across America, for more than 50 years. Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, creator of the documentary series, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”, has called Butcher’s work a “National Treasure.” His artistry is as revered and valued by conservationists as by photographers.

The Clyde Butcher galleries at Big Cypress in the Florida Everglades and in Venice, Florida have been listed among Florida’s top tourist attractions. Butcher’s stunning images up to seven feet across or high have graced museums nationally and worldwide. Butcher said he loves the way his larger images enable the view to “walk into the photograph and see and experience everything.”

The exhibit in Ludington is being held at the same time as a major exhibit of Butcher’s work at the Midwest Museum of American Art. The exhibit, in Elkhart, Indiana, is being held in conjunction with a complimentary exhibit there of another of America’s greatest photographers of all time, Ansel Adams.

“For years, we have shown our college and workshop students Clyde Butcher and Ansel Adams black-and-white photographs to show them how great photographs are made, from the mind and heart, before, during and after capturing the moment in the camera and printing it by hand in the darkroom,” Brad Reed said. “No one did or does every step better than them; the end results are photographs that greatly impact people.”

While the Butchers are unable to attend the Ludington reception of their show, they do plan to attend an artist’s reception of their work at the Elkhart art museum scheduled for June 28 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.