Jeff Clapp - Artist | Donna Clapp

About the Artist:

Scott Buttfield - Photographer

Scott is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF), living and practicing in Red Bank, New Jersey. He has always had a strong interest in numerous social concerns such as protecting our environment, human rights, animal rights, personal growth, and so on. This interest is reflected in his work as a Financial Planner in the area of Investment Management. His focus is on providing his clients with Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) that allow them to have their values reflected in their investment portfolios. Scott's photography reflects his deep interest and concern for nature and our environment, animals, and human beings, especially children.

Currently living with his girlfriend, Toni, he has been an amateur photographer for 30 years. Photography is one of a number of passions Scott has outside of his work. Others are cooking, enjoying classical music and opera, and playing electric bass with rock and roll bands.

What inspires you?

From an artistic point of view, what inspires me the most are peaceful settings. One of my favorite parts of the world is Acadia National Park, and the other is my family's summer home in Castine. Both are on the Penobscot bay in the northern coastal area of Maine. The beauty and majesty of animals, and the innocence of children also inspire me. As a photographer, I am inspired when I am able to capture what I see and feel in a photograph. I am also inspired when my photographs touch others.

What is your medium of choice? Why?

My medium of choice is 35mm color photography. For me, photography is a medium that captures a moment in time, and with 35mm, that moment is "as is". While some alteration can occur with a photographs development, basically what you see is set when the picture is taken. The challenge of photography is to know how to best set the camera, find the right angle, time the shutter, and often, sense what the subject is going to do just as I am taking the shot, especially with animals and children. Part of the fun is the anticipation of waiting until the pictures are developed to see if I got it right.

Who are my favorite artists? Who influences you?

Certainly Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers. His work conveys tremendous contrast and depth, and I consider him to be one of the best black and white photographers who ever lived. The photographer, who's name escapes me, who was/is one of the photographers for National Geographic magazine and took the photograph of the young Afghan girl has always been one of my favorites. He captured her amazing blue eyes in a cover photograph that is instantly recognizable.

Who has and continues to influence me, specific to photography, is Daniel Dorn Sr., who took numerous black and white photographs in and around Red Bank. (The closing of Dorn's Photo Shop has saddened me a great deal and I consider it to be a great loss to our town). Another photographer who has influenced me is my aunt, Helen Stevens Buttfield. Stevie, as we know her, is a very accomplished photographer and artist and has collaborated on numerous books and shows in New York City over the years. My grandfather, Waldo Thompson, was also influenced my interest in photography. He and my grandmother would come down to visit us and he would take photographs in the back yard with this huge camera with a bellows and separate light meter and all. To me as a young boy, it was very impressive.

How long have you been creating and what or who inspired you to start?

I bought my first camera in 1975 upon graduating from college. My roommate Gary was buying a camera and I thought it sounded like fun, so I bought the exact same one. I just started taking pictures and after awhile, people commented that some of them were quite good-I actually did get it right now and then. However, what really inspired me was my father's work.

My father, Donald C. Buttfield, was not a photographer, but rather a woodworker. Beyond that, he was a craftsman. Back in the mid 70's, he began making miniature replicas of antique furniture. His work was outstanding and in a very short period of time, he became one of the most respected artisans in this field. He retired from his construction career and began making miniature furniture as a second, far more relaxed, career. Collectors coveted his work and today it is shown in museums. I don't have his talent for woodworking, but I seem to have at least some talent with a camera. While I love my work as a financial planner, I know that at some point I will want to "wind down" and pursue other interests. My father's model of developing a second career, as an artistic expression, has always impressed me and I guess I would like to do this also.

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