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About the Artist

Andrew Butters has a wife, two children, two cats, and lives happily in Cambridge, Ontario while working in Waterloo for a medical imaging software company. Away from his day job Andrew can be found writing, singing, and and taking photographs. He often attends a weekly arts community gathering “Cinq a Sept” to network and share creative ideas.

The idea behind alphabet photography is not new, but Andrew adds a personal touch by sharing the stories behind each photo taken, making each creation a one-of-a-kind treasure that you can enjoy for years to come.

http://andrewsalphabet.com/

Twitter:
@andrewbutters

Blog:
Potato Chip Math

Contact:
andrewsalphabet@gmail.com

The Stories Behind the Letters

My first alphabet photography project was done as a wedding present for a long time friend. While visiting Cambridge, Massachusetts for the wedding I took a stroll through Harvard Square and spotted this beautiful lamp post “W”.

Some renovations were done at the pump house in the park beside the cottage. The kids were out with the cousins waking the new puppy and I spotted a nice lowercase “R” amongst the new vent pipes.

On vacation in Europe for his brother’s wedding, I took the family to an old castle in the Black Forest region of Germany. Having successfully found a “K” in the woodwork of a 400 year old catapult I spotted this “E” in the detailed iron work of an old rusty gate.

On that same European vacation, the Paris leg of the journey took us on a wonderful boat tour on the River Seine. Several of the bridges crossing the river had old stone archways that looked just like a lowercase “N”. This picture is one of several I have been lucky enough to take from a moving vehicle!

The bird I found on a free clip art website. It looked remarkably wren-like and seemed right at home in the picture.

The second “E” in this set of images was taken very recently in Las Vegas. Several kind people stood out of the way and held open the door and let me stand there, stooped over, taking picture after picture of a door handle. I’m sure they thought I was completely nuts!

Unfortunately the “M” has no great story to go along with it. I was barbequing up at the cottage and was staring at this wind chime by the door. I actually spotted a not-so-great “Y” and a pretty good “W” before my eyes were drawn to the “M”. A little tweaking of the rotation on the computer and voila!

When Andrew was first explaining the alphabet photography idea to his mother back he was on the phone trying to convey the notion that everyday objects could look like letters of the alphabet. He was not having much success and lay down, exasperated, on the couch in the living room. Looking up at the half wall separating the hallway from the room he spotted a perfect bamboo lowercase “E”.

My family hosts an annual Canada day barbeque up at the cottage. We all get dressed up in our red and white t-shirts and gorge on snacks before a big burger cookout at sunset just before fireworks. Staring down at my plate my daughter pointed out a perfectly tasty “R”.

The “S” was taken in a museum in Paris, France. I actually spotted a “B” in a third floor window and my wife asked the security guard if we could open it to get a clearer picture. We were allowed, and as we were leaving the museum I spotted the “S” on an outside window just below where we had taken the picture of the “B”.

I was attempting to take some pictures of my kids on the playground but they would not stop moving around! Instead, I set my sights on finding some letters in amongst all the twisted metal. After my daughter completed a particularly difficult attempt at the round monkey bars I spotted a wonderful “O”.

Down in Vegas, obsessed with finding letters and playing poker my wife spotted this “U” in a concrete wall outside Caesar’s Palace. It didn’t even occur to me until I needed another “N” for Wren’s name that I could turn it upside down. Gotta love artistic license