Daily Inspiration: Meet Barry Butler

Today we’d like to introduce you to Barry Butler.

Hi Barry, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Almost 30 years ago, I suffered a major injury playing hockey. I broke my collarbone as the doctor said “in a thousand pieces”. Knowing that my recovery was determined to be 8 months and since I only had one arm to work with, I decided to teach myself photography and bought a camera and tripod. I need the tripod because of just one arm was functional. My focus from the beginning was landscape photography…and I began my tourney capturing moments all over the world. Come in the early 2000’s, my “practice shots” in the city of Chicago were posted on social media. My work quickly became popular and my photography business organically grew.

The following is from my bio on my website.

Barry Butler is a Chicago-based/Ireland-born, internationally published landscape and cityscape photographer. Getting his start over 25 years ago, Barry, a self-taught photographer, has captured images from locales around the world, but he is legendary for his Chicago imagery. Reporter Mike Lowe of WGN-TV nicknamed him “Chicago’s Picture Poet”. Barry’s work has appeared in a variety of media spanning television, books, advertising and music album covers. In 2022, Barry help create the cover, the back cover and the gatefold for Umphrey’s McGee album, “Asking for A Friend”. Not only will his photos appear in local and national media outlets daily, but also Barry has been featured for behind the scenes experiences of his work or to share his photographic expertise on such outlets as the Weather Channel, CNN-Espanol, WGN-TV, 101.9 the MIX, WBBM-AM Newsradio, Fox 32 Chicago, WGN-Radio 720, National Public Radio WBEZ, WLS-AM, CBS-2 Chicago, ABC-7’s Windy City Live, WCIU-TV, iHeartRadio Chicago to name a few. The Chicago Reader newspaper reader survey for 2021 named Barry as “Chicago’s Best Photographer”. The Huffington Post and Thrillist both have recognized his work for top Chicago photography.

In April 2020, Barry released his first photography portfolio book, “Chicago, A City Above All” containing over 100 images of the Windy City. The massively purchased debut has four sections – Light, Drama, Spirit and Flow. Imagery includes incredible sunrises and sunsets, views along the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, how the city celebrates holidays and sports, and dramatic weather across the Chicago landscape. In August 2022, Navy Pier commissioned Barry for a 20-month photographic exhibit highlighting the Chicago area water system called, “Flow – Water Brings Life To Chicago”. In September 2023, Barry released his second book, “Chicago – Morning, Noon & Night” not only highlighting his imagery for Chicago at all hours of the day, but also his charitable work involving the restoration of Chicago Harbor Lighthouse.

You can also find Barry on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where he posts photos taken that day. You can try catch him on the ground, on top of rooftops or flying high in helicopters capturing moments in the Windy City. You’ll often find him scouting sights or behind the camera in Chicago with his assistants Chopper and Tuskar by his side.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest struggle with a photography business is not the photography part…it’s the business part. I’m a one-man show. I handle all the printing, shipping, answering business requests, etc. all by myself. At times, I feel I spend 90% doing the business side and 10% shooting. Where the actually photography part can be a struggle is when I get myself in difficult situations by getting injured often times climbing. I keep the local hospitals in thriving.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I answered most of it in the bio I provided. If there is something that sets me apart is that I do my best to get it right in camera instead of what many photographers do by spending time behind a computer screen. My time is better spent looking thru the the lens.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Being a landscape photographer, living in a city can be a challenge unless you change the paradigm. The skyline is my mountains. The river and lake are my ocean and waterfalls. Wildlife can be the people.

Pricing:

• Books, prints and calendars can be found on my website, barrybutlerphotography.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://barrybutlerphotography.com
• Instagram: barrybutler9
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/barrybutlerphotography
• Twitter: barrybutler9

Image Credits
all my photos