Studies in Black: Preface by Peter Adam

The story of this work and its photographer is an unusual and extraordinary one. It is the story of the determination of an artist to publish his own work after being let down by so many people in the publishing world.

Tony Butcher was born in London’s east end. His mother sold rabbits on the Bethnal Green Road, while his father sold their furs for coats and jackets. One of his uncles was training a young Arnold Schwartzennegger to become Mr. Universe.

As a young man, Tony was working as a plumber when the colleague he was working with got him interested in photography but he mainly took snap shots of friends and holiday pictures.

In 1988 he lost his camera on a beach in The Gambia. With the insurance money he bought himself a professional Canon T90 and decided to learn something about photography. He joined a night school class in Egham. By sheer luck they used black and white film. The love of the medium was born.

In 1989 he ventured to London to become a member of the London Camera Club, then a few steps from The Photographers Gallery. Encouraged by his fellow students, he sent ten pictures to The Royal Photographic Society in Bath and although only in photography in a proper capacity for three months, gained a Licencership, and within a further year went to become an Associate, finally to become a Fellow of this prestigious Society.

His interest in the black male nude again happened by sheer luck, he was at London’s Camera Club one night when a group session was going on and the model was a black guy and as he did not like working in groups, Tony ask the guy if he would work with him on his own, over this period Tony discovered a more gentle and beautiful side to the black male and decided to pay homage to that in his photographs.

While he was still making a living by painting houses, people began to take notice of the photographer Tony Butcher, now a fellow of The Royal Photographic Society. Several books included his pictures e.g. ‘Adam’ and ‘Erotica’ by Edward Lucy Smith, ‘Naked Men Too’ and ‘The Male Nude Now’ by the American author David Leddick. The American St. Martins Press devoted 22 pages to his work in their book ‘Man’. Emanuel Cooper included his work in the book ‘The Male Body’. In 2006 he is included in another book published in the U.S.A. working title ‘The Romantic Male Nude’ author James Spada, Tony has also been included in many of the books published by the Australian Studio group which also publishes the prestigious magazines; Blue’ and ‘Black and White’ Tony has also been included In Blue several times and other magazines and journals worldwide. Also the Australian Ink Group published successfully published a calendar of his work for several years.

Tony personally took his photographs to galleries and had exhibitions in London, Birmingham, New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Paris. Collectors began to buy his work; he also did several photographs for theatre posters for The Lyric in Hammersmith and also for the controversial play ‘Corpus Christi’ but on the whole the subject of the male black nude met with reservations, after many galleries and publishers saying yes and then at the last minute changing their mind, Tony Butcher with his inborn tenacity and initiative, decided to design and publish this book himself. He knew nothing about the book world. Still as a house painter, he learned about printing, bookbinding, layout and marketing, he found friends to help him realise his dream and I am sure that all who see the book will see how dedicated he was to his task.

Preface and release by Peter Adam. Director of the prize winning Television series ‘Master Photographers’ and the author of Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt, Kertez on Kertez and many other books on artists.