ARTIST BIO: Wayne Swanson is a fine art photographer based in San Diego who likes to find the wonder in the ordinary. It could be anything from the sculptural beauty of freeway interchanges to the unexpected shadows cast by wine glasses and bottles. His interests range from shapes and forms, architecture, and landscapes to the highly personal. He is drawn to imagery related to time, memory, atmosphere, a sense of place, and a subtle sense of humor. Then he finds a means of presentation that suits his subject. That could mean single images, composites, or grids. The output could be analog or digital prints, Polaroids, image transfers, or 3-dimensional objects. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, and his career has included writing and photography for publications and corporate clients. His photography has been exhibited widely in galleries, fine art publications, and the photobook California Love. As a writer, he is a contributing editor to PhotoBook Journal.
ARTIST STATEMENT: The life of the Southwestern desert — a place often dismissed as a vast wasteland where there is “nothing to see” — is the subject of these panoramic landscapes. The images are inspired by a classic series of Midwestern landscapes by mid-century fine art photographer Art Sinsabaugh. He revealed the vitality in the flat, featureless landscape of rural Illinois — another place where there is seemingly “nothing to see” — by severely cropping out the sky and foreground to focus attention on the imagery along the horizon line. Although my approach and style differ, my elongated images provide a similar graphic framework for focusing attention on the diverse physical elements and human interventions at play in the desert environment.
