Following the lecture is a reception and book signing for Butler's newly-published book, The Final Print: A Metaphor For Influence, Understanding And Practice in the HACC Gallery. Copies of the book are available at the event.
Butler earned two degrees from the Rochester Institute of Technology's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, and later became a professor at RIT, still teaching there after 38 years. He served as long-time Chairs of the Applied Photography Department and the Military Photojournalism program. RIT is generally acknowledged as the world's largest and most renowned school of photography.
At RIT, Butler has taught courses and workshops in Applied Photography II, Narrative / Documentary / Editorial Photography I, Second Year Summer Transfer program, Summer Graduate Transfer program, Black-and-White View-Camera Workshop, Second Year Studio Photography, Underwater Photography, Introduction to Professional Photography, Zone System, Public Service Advertising, Photographic Communications, Navy photojournalism Program (DOD), Digital & Electronic imaging, and Digital Book Production and Design.
In 2004, RIT announced the prestigious Owen Butler Photography Scholarship, funded to honor Owen and initiated by a former student.
Over the last 40 years, Butler has had 40 group and one person shows including the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Museum of Modern Art NYC, Pratt Institute, Burden Gallery / Aperture Foundation NYC, and Museum of Image and Sound / Brazil.
Owen is the founder of OB Press: a small, unique digital printing organization dedicated to the printing of electronically designed and digitally printed books.
His publication credits include Advanced Black-and-White Photography: Hurbert Birnbaum and Owen Butler, Eastman Kodak Company Workshop Series; Less Than Sharp, A Moment of Vision, and Photography For Visual Communicators: Prentice-Hall.
Butler has lectured and conducted workshops in diverse venues such as Pratt Institute, Museum of Image and Sound / Brazil, Indiana University, United States Military Academy, and HACC.
Currently Butler serves as a consultant for Eastman Kodak Company and Serbin Communications, and is on the Advisory Boards of Photographer's Forum magazine and HACC's photography program.
The May 2 lecture is presented by HACC's award-winning photography programs, where students have achieved a variety of national honors, including Pulitzer Prize nomination and highest honors in the Best of College Photography Competition. Funding for the lecture is provided by a special initiatives grant from the HACC Foundation. For more information please contact Ron Talbott, Coordinator of HACC's Photography Programs and Senior Professor of Art, by sending him an email at r9talbot@hacc.edu.