Benjamin Swett is a New York-based photographer specializing in the nature and architecture of cities. His photographs documenting the things that grow in cities and towns have appeared in more than 40 books, brochures and annual reports including New York City Trees: A Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area; Going Coastal; Tompkins Square Park Manhattan Map & Guide; Bronx River New York Map & Guide; and The People of St. James Park. He is the author and photographer of the book Great Trees of New York City: A Guide (New York: New York Tree Trust, 2000), and his photographs have been published in The New York Times, Conjunctions, Parabola and other periodicals and are in the collections of the Arthur Ross Foundation, the New York Community Trust, Montefiore Hospital, Alliance Capital, the Parks Photo Archive, and others. Widely collected and exhibited, Mr. Swett is currently at work on three new book projects: “Nature of New York,” “Tree Portraits,” and “Route 22: Autobiography of a Road.”
EXHIBITS:
Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY. “Images from Route 22,” July-Aug., 2004 (solo)
Mt. Sinai-Irving J. Selikoff Center NYC, “Nature in New York,” May-Dec 2003 (group)
Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Queens Jewels: A History of Queens Parks,” June-Sep 2002 (group)
Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Waterways, New York and Scotland,” Sep-Oct 2001 (group)
Michael Ingbar Gallery NYC, “The New York Skyline,” July-November, 2001 (group)
Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY, “Art at Steepletop,” July 2001 (group)
Wave Hill House Bronx, “New York City Trees,” June-August, 2001 (solo)
Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Greener Pastures: Bronx Parks,” June-July, 2001 (group)
An American Space Gallery NYC, “New York City Trees,” June-July 2000 (solo)
Scott Pfaffman Gallery NYC, “For the Trees,” May-July, 2000 (group)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Conjunctions (Fall, 2003)
The New York Times, City Section (November 17, 2002--photo essay)
New York City Trees: a Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002--contributor, text & photographs)
Cunningham Park, Queens Map & Guide 2001 (editor/photographer)
Great Trees of New York City: A Guide (New York: New York Tree Trust, 2000—48-page monograph--author and photographer)
Tompkins Square Park, Manhattan Map & Guide 2000 (editor/photographer)
Baisley Pond Park, Queens Map & Guide 2000 (editor/photographer)
New York-New Jersey Waterways 2000 (writer/photographer)
Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan: Map and Guide 1999 (co-writer/photographer)
Bronx River New York: Map and Guide 1999 (author/photographer)
Fort Greene Park Brooklyn: Map and Guide 1998 (author/photographer)
The People of St. James Park, Bronx 1997 (author/photographer)
Parabola (Summer, 1997--“The Shadow”--photographs)
Insight Guide, Italy (Singapore, APA Productions, 1986—contributor, text & photographs)
Insight Guide: New York (Singapore, APA Productions, 1986—essay)
COLLECTIONS:
Alliance Capital New York, Arthur Ross Foundation, City of New York/Parks & Recreation Parks Photo Archive, City Parks Foundation, Historic House Trust, Michael Ingbar Gallery, Montefiore Hospital, New York Community Trust, New York University/Institute of Fine Arts, New York Tree Trust, Partnerships for Parks.
LECTURES AND RESIDENCIES:
Photographic Administrators Inc., National Arts Club, “Tree Portraits” (Oct. 2003)
Westchester Photographic Society, “Route 22—An Autobiography of a Road” (Jan. 10, 2003)
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. “Impressionistic Landscape Photography” (Aug 2002)
Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, N.Y. One-Month Residency. (Aug 1999)
Breadloaf Writer’s Conference, Middlebury, VT Two-week residency (August 1989)
FREELANCE CLIENTS:
Archaeological Excavation of Aphrodisias, Arthur Ross Foundation, The Brearley School, Bridge Street Development Corporation, Broadway Mall Association, Christodora, Inc., City of New York/Parks & Recreation, City Parks Foundation, Friends of Betsy Gotbaum, Friends of Highbridge Park, GreenThumb, Highbridge Community Development Corporation, Historic House Trust, Madison Square Park Conservancy, Morningside Area Alliance, National Tree Trust, National Park Service, New York Community Trust, New Yorkers for Parks, New York Restoration Project, New York Times Book Review, New York Times, New York Tree Trust, Parks Council, Partnerships for Parks, Phipps Houses, Inc., Sturgis Group.
EMPLOYMENT:
07/01-Present Freelance Photography
04/88-07/01 New York City Parks & Recreation
09/96-07/01 Director/Principal Photographer, Parks in Print Program
11/93-09/96 Writer, City Parks Foundation
05/90-11/93 Writer, Special Projects, Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum
10/88-05/90 Chief of Staff, Commissioners Henry J. Stern and Betsy Gotbaum
04/88-10/88 Assistant to Commissioner Henry J. Stern
10/85-04/88 Freelance Writer/Photographer
08/84-10/85 The Patent Trader Newspaper, Mount Kisco, NY Reporter/Photographer
EDUCATION:
Harvard College, Magna Cum Laude 1981, English & American Literature |