Coastal Rhode Island | Photographs

Butch Lombardi has had a camera in his hand most of his life. He was the kid at Boy Scout camp with a camera; the guy in the platoon with a camera; the guy on his honeymoon with a camera. He bought his first 35mm camera when he started to work for a living, and although he participated in a few juried art shows over the years, time was too scarce to fully commit to the endeavor. When Butch retired in 1998, he filled his spare time playing golf until his sister started sending him cards with pictures she had shot around her home in Vermont. Her photography stirred something in him and he started shooting film again, although he quickly realized that digital was the way to go. Like Judy, he gravitated to landscape, wildlife, and nature photography and started to roam the East Bay area of coastal Rhode Island with his cameras. This part of Rhode Island is unique: a small sliver of the state in which each town borders some part of the bay. Although Butch has shot photos all over New England, Canada, the Desert Southwest, Ireland, and Portugal, he never tires of photographing the East Bay. His favorite spot is the Warren waterfront, which he feels rivals any waterfront in New England for the quintessential New England seaside scene. His passion for the area comes through in his work, which has been featured in many galleries across Rhode Island and received myriad awards.