Big City Image Maker Opens Studio on Church Street
"I am able to find beauty in almost anything. It may not be obvious, it may need to be patiently coaxed out of someone, but it's always there" - Dennis Butler, Photographer

Hailed by American Photographer as one the countries top ten up and coming fashion photographers, and personally hired by Andy Warhol to take celebrity snaps for Interview Magazine, Dennis Butler has left the bright lights of NYC to position himself at what he hopes is the threshold of Orlando’s slow-but-sure transformation from tourist-town into a city of sophistication and culture.

It might seem odd, then, that Butler Photography Studio has taken up residency in, of all places, Church Street Station’s Exchange; a shopping center originally built with the aim of separating those very tourists from their currency, regardless of national origins.

But then, art photographer Dennis Butler can not often be counted on to take the usual or expected approach to anything, not the least of which is his approach to his work itself.

Portrait of Tom Dyer

"Andy [Warhol] never wanted things to be beautiful, just for the sake of beauty. He preferred them to exist just as expressions of being. I've tried to make my work unforgettable in just that one way," Butler confides, "Some say beauty isn't everything. I believe it's the only thing."

And to that end, Dennis Butler brings a most refreshing approach to client/photographer relations in a town which in the wake of Disney/MGM and Universal Studios ground-breakings, sprouted head-shot studios in greater numbers than tee-shirt shops on I-drive, seemingly opened by anyone who happened to own a 35 millimeter at the time

"I try to uncover the person’s real ambition," says Butler "With the ideal person, I seek to know them at the beginning of their career and follow them for years as the arc of their interests expands. We are more of a high end, upper crust type of studio. In New York, we would have been referred to as a 'boutique' operation. Highly specialized attention is given to the client in order to insure a marketing edge. What good are pictures if they don't make you look better than the competition? "

Butler, along with co-owner, Mark Beatty, chose a former boutique of sorts as the digs for their new Church Street operation. Occupying what used to be Victoria’s Secret, Butler Photography Studio spreads itself out over several rooms which are tastefully arranged and appointed in a way that is sophisticated and appropriately "artsy" yet at the same time manages to be warm and inviting.

An airy gallery provides open spaces for standing back and studying industrial-size works of art, of various mediums, with photographic beginnings. Curved sofas offer convertible seating for those waiting to be photographed or while leafing through portfolios. A separate area provides consultation space, and of course there is the photo-shoot studio itself with multiple changing-rooms (a bonus left-over form Victoria’s Secret's build-out).

What was at one time a display-window alcove, now provides a work-space for Dennis, where passers-by can spy on him applying his hand-painted flourishes of vivid color to otherwise black & white Butler-photographic portraits, mostly of local notables.

"We take pictures of entertainment professionals. We draw portraits of celebrities from all walks of life" In addition to the truly famous mugs of Harvey Fierstien and Andy Warhol, visitors will encounter larger-than-life images of Watermark Publisher, Tom Dyer, Radio Personality, Michael Wanzie; Writer, John Sullivan: and Singer, Jackie Jones.

"I’m attracted to my subjects because I am attracted to their ambitions. I love individuals who have goals and are trying to achieve them. But for my subjects I choose those who have made contributions to the community. I like movers and shakers" says the artist.

But why so big? "Coverage!" comes the answer, "Big pictures fill big walls, and big walls are found in big homes, and big homes are usually owned by big personalities. Hero worship, common man as icon. Andy's influence is unmistakable…"

While his clients include a stable of actors, singers, and pageant queens, as well as on-air personalities, Dennis Butler freely admits, " I take 'hot' sexy pictures that speak volumes. Men and women who have spent a lot of time and effort in keeping in shape have been coming to us for 'boudoir' photos for years. I like taking pictures of them and it makes it all the more fun."

Butler’s considerable familiarity with the computer adds greatly to his ability to enhance a photo with astonishing blemish and age-reduction results in record time and financial efficiency, " I have this incredible ability to turn back time. Retouching and the computer have made looking beautiful that much easier"

Of his future in Orlando, Butler observes, "Recently, many people have referred to the 'maturing' of the market in Central Florida…we can look forward to the community becoming aware of its class… Our business is to determine how you can best position yourself into this market"

by Dennis Butler

Butler Photography Studio
Church Street Exchange
Downtown Orlando
Gertude’s Walk Entrance
First Floor
Telephone: 407-316-0007
Web Site:
http://butlerstudio.com/
Email:
butlerstudiofl@aol.com

Photo by Dennis Butler