Resume of Photographic Work
by Danny N. Schweers
A friend, George Rothbart, introduced me to photography at Stanford University in 1968.
Since then I have been an active amateur and occasional professional. Every week now, a new image is added to my collection of Photo Prayers.
Links to galleries of my photographs can be found on my Photos Page.
Recent Individual Exhibits
- 2008 Photo Prayers at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, DE, June - August, 2008. The Delaware News Journal published my introduction to the exhibit intact along with three images on page 1 of its "Life" section, May 31, 2008: "Images With Spirit: Wilmington photographer relates his process, pairing his work with prayerful reflections." Click here to read my updated statement about Photo Prayers.
- 2008 Afternoon with the Artist at the Arden Craft Shop Museum, Arden, DE, Sunday, March 30, 2008. Exhibit of photographs, magazine collages, and copies of the Book of Days calendar.
- 2007 Joint exhibit with Ross Stevens at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, DE.
- 2007 Twelve Abstract Photos at Crosslands Residential Community, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
- 2005 Five Reminders at the Christiana Care Health Service's Helen F. Graham Cancer Center Library, Newark, DE. This exhibit was sponsored by the Delaware Photographic Society. The five photos, I was told, should be of a quiet, pleasing nature. At the conclusion of the exhibit, I was asked by the director of the Cancer Center if I would donate them. They now provide some small comfort to those undergoing radiation therapy. I hope you never have occasion to see them.
- 2005 The Chosen Few at Colourworks Gallery, Wilmington, DE. Click here to see the Chosen Few images, each of which was chosen by a different juror.
Recent Group Exhibits
- 2008 Elements: The Alchemy of Form at Colourworks Gallery.
- 2007 The Secret Life of Water at University City Arts League, October, 2007.
- 2007 The Cultivated Eye at Delaware Art Museum. Edward J. Sozanski in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, July 15, 2007, reproduced "Brandywine Creek at Breck's Mill" and said, "Danny Schweers and Jim Graham display a deft ability to abstract nature without losing the essence of their subjects." Kristin Pazulski in Art Matters, June, 2007 reproduced "Steel Bars, No Cage" and devoted five paragraphs to my work. Betsy Price, in Delaware's News Journal, reproduced "Brandywine Creek at Breck's Mill". Edward Higgins reviewed the exhibit for the South Philly Review on June 26, 2007.
- 2007 The Walls of Brandywine Creek State Park at the Nature Center, January-April, 2007. Two of my photos were selected for this juried exhibition, winning first prize and honorable mention.
- 2005 The Rag Art Show at the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture. A group retrospective of our years working on Austin's underground newspaper, The Rag, was part of The Rag Reunion. My photos, taken in the early 1970s, are now in the collection of The Center for American History at The University of Texas.
- 2004 White: Fifteen Photographers Play on a Theme at Colourworks Gallery, Wilmington, DE.
Public Collections
- Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX. A complete collection of the Book of Days, 1977-1995.
- Arden Craft Shop Museum, Arden, DE. Photographs documenting the life of a utopian village, 2000-present.
- Austin History Center photography collection, Austin, TX. Photos exhibited in the Austin Seen exhibit of 1984, curated by Russell Lee and Roy Flukinger. Also a complete collection of the Book of Days, 1977-1995.
- Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin. Photos documenting the underground newspaper, The Rag, 1971-1975.
- Helmut Gernsheim Collection at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museen in Mannheim, Germany. Helmut Gernsheim purchased three of my neon abstract photos in the 1980s. He'd seen nothing like them. One of them, of Threadgill's Restaurant in Austin, Texas, was later used in my Photo Prayer of 2007_02 (above, right).
- Photography Collection at Harry Ransom Center of The University of Texas at Austin. One of the largest photography collections in the world. I have donated to them nearly everything I have related to the Book of Days, including all the issues, 1977-1995. They even have some of my images, 1985-1988, in their collection.
- Witliff Collections at the Alkek Library at Texas State University, San Marcos, TX. Eleven of the thirteen Book of Days that I published.
Selected Awards
- 2008 Joy of Giving Something "Caption Contest" January, 2008 for the photograph "Jumpin" which I later used in Photo Prayer 2007_24 (at right).
- 2007 Brandywine Creek State Park photo contest, First place and one of two honorable mentions. Both images were reproduced in the Greenville Community News of January 23, 2007.
- 1989 Honorary Professor of Photography at East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) after serving as one of three jurors to its International Photography competition and exhibit.
Professional Photogaphy Affiliations
- 2007 to present Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts.
- 2004 to present Brandywine Photo Collective.
- 2001 to present National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
- 1980 to present Texas Photographic Society. President, 1985. Board member, 1983-1985.
- 1977-1980 Photographer for the American Deaf Dance Company, Yacov Sharir, Artistic Director
Kind Words
Danny continues to mix wonderment with insight and grace with humor in a way that very few excellent photographers are consistently capable of doing. (George Krause and Lee Friedlander and Elliott Erwitt come most readily to mind at the moment.) His is a world of keen observation, steeped in an awe of the everyday and an enjoyment of the daily challenge that breathing out and in brings to every creature on this planet. His art is certainly magical and musical, but, above all, it remains overwhelmingly brave — because he agrees to live for every moment and to share that commitment with us all. His photographs challenge us to never cease in that affirmation to life.
Roy Flukinger, Senior Curator,
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
The University of Texas at Austin, July 27, 2005