A retired newspaper executive, the Willisville area photographer finds peace and tranquility through the lens of his camera<\/p>\n
For many years, Willisville area photographer Jon Butler was up before dawn to capture first light over the La Cloche Range and witness something most people never will.<\/p>\n
At 73, he is not as nimble to climb the range as he used to be, but he still likes to photograph nature in the natural light of early morning.<\/p>\n
His photographs of serene sunrises are often so heavenly, one might mistakenly suspect they were photoshopped<\/a>.<\/p>\n Growing up in Kirkland Lake, his first camera was a gift from his parents. A hobby became a passion when he retired from his corporate job as president and CEO of Thomson Newspapers Canada in 2001 when he was 48.<\/p>\n He is in the envious position of enjoying a retirement almost as long as his career in the 9-to-5 world.<\/p>\n Starting with a job in circulation at “The Peterborough Expositor,” Butler worked for Thomson for 30 years, with stints as the publisher of newspapers in Elliot Lake, Timmins, Cambridge and Sudbury.<\/p>\n “In Timmins, I was the guy who went on behalf of Ken Thomson to city council to donate the old Timmins Daily Press Building (as a community centre) to the city plus $100,000. They turned us down because they wanted $1 million,” said Butler.<\/p>\n The demolition of the Art Moderne and Art Deco newspaper building built in 1940 by Roy Thomson is still grieved by preservationists.<\/p>\n A designated national historic site because of its impressive design and significance as home of the Thomson family’s first newspaper, the city eventually received ownership in lieu of property taxes and in 1995 ripped up a big part of Canadian newspaper history.<\/p>\n Butler moved into senior management at Thomson and transferred to Winnipeg from Sudbury in 1997. The former paperboy was involved in the sale of its huge media empire of 55 daily and 75 community newspapers in Canada and the United States starting in 2000.<\/p>\n “When we sold the last paper, I left the business. I had no interest in working for the other Canadian (newspaper) companies and I wasn’t interested in working in the United States, so I retired,” said Butler.<\/p>\n He and his wife, Kerry, a retired teacher and talented photographer in her own right, left Winnipeg and moved east to their cottage in Willisville, which they had owned since the 1990s. The couple have three children.<\/p>\n The Butlers have since moved to an island in Charlton Lake and spend winters in the Ottawa area.<\/p>\n They have participated in numerous arts shows and are active in the community’s efforts to preserve the area’s beauty and record its history.<\/p>\n In 2009, the Butlers with Sophie Edwards and Christi Belcourt organized the Willisville Mountain Project, an exhibit of 45 artists that toured five locations in Ontario, including Sudbury, to draw attention to the beauty of the area which had inspired members of Canada’s Group of Seven nearly a century ago.<\/p>\n “Right after that, we found out Vale was thinking about expanding the Lawson Quarry and the Willisville Mountain was next up. So, we started the La Cloche Conservatory Society<\/a>,” said Butler.<\/p>\n Vale responded to the concerns of citizens and voluntarily surrendered the mining rights<\/a> to the mountain in 2011.<\/p>\n The silica and quartz Willisville Mountain area, a 235-acre nature reserve southwest of Espanola, is now owned and managed by the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It’s saved forever now,” said Butler.<\/p>\n La Cloche has long provided inspiration for artists and photographers.<\/p>\n “It all started with the Group of Seven,” said Butler. “In our little area, five members painted there, starting with Franklin Carmichael in the 1920s, then A.Y. Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald and Arthur Lismer, and lastly, A.J. Casson.<\/p>\n “Casson was the one who got me started on La Cloche. When I was in Elliot Lake, I went to Toronto often and one day I looked in the phone book and there was ‘A.J. Casson.’ So I just phoned him up.<\/p>\n “He said to drop by anytime I was in Toronto, so for a couple of years, when I went to Toronto I would go visit him. He was in his 80s then. He was a very nice man.<\/p>\n “He talked about La Cloche. That is how Kerry and I got so involved in the history of the area.”<\/p>\n In recent years, Butler has revisited his large collection of negatives and digital jpegs and begun to use special effects to create mystic photo montages.<\/p>\n His recent collaboration with music by Steve Raizen (aka Frozen Lonesome) can be seen on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n On his website, Butler describes himself as “a Zen practitioner and retired newspaper executive who changed his clothes to enjoy the passing seasons of life.”<\/p>\n Butler has published two books, “Visions of La Cloche, Contemplating La Cloche with Words,” and “La Cloche Spirit; Contemplating Beginner\u2019s Mind.”<\/p>\n His images have appeared in magazines, books, and newspapers including “In the Footsteps of the Group of Seven” by Jim and Sue Waddington.<\/p>\n Butler is spending his prime surrounded by breathtaking scenery enjoying life and his family. He keeps busy and has had 12 solo exhibits and participated in 46 group exhibits and 30 juried shows. Information about how to purchase his prints or posters is available at Loon.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n The photographer is taking part in the A Little Bit of Whealism exhibition, a tribute to the late artist Ivan Wheale, from May 23 to July 17 at Studio Six, Gore Bay Harbour Centre.<\/p>\n