Mary Virginia Swanson

MARY VIRGINIA SWANSON is widely respected as a leader in the fields of licensing and marketing fine art photography. Ms. Swanson is an expert in career development within the fine art, commercial and photojournalism fields, and is sought after as an educator and consultant. While attending college at Arizona State University's noted MFA Photography program, Swanson was the student director of Northlight Gallery, and completed an internship at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) where she served as research assistant to the MIA's Curator of Photography, Carroll T. Hartwell, for the publication THE MAKING OF A COLLECTION (APERTURE, 1982). It was while conducting research for this project that Swanson established professional relationships and friendships that she maintains today with many of today's most revered fine art photographers. After completing her degree program 1979, Swanson was hired as Workshop Coordinator at the Friends of Photography (FOP) in Carmel, California, an organization founded in the 1960's by Ansel Adams, Beaumont Newhall and other key figures of the day. Under the direction of James Alinder, FOP embarked on a growth campaign; Swanson headed the expansion and management of its educational programming, including the famed Ansel Adams Workshops, bringing hundreds of eminent photographers to teach in the programs at FOP. In spring of 1984, Swanson relocated to New York City to direct Special Projects for Magnum Photos, the landmark photojournalism Cooperative founded by Henri-Cartier Bresson, Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour and George Rodger at the end of World War II. Swanson's mission was to enhance awareness of the work of Magnum photographers, and to establish opportunities for photographers within the fine art market. She worked with the rich archives of imagery held at the Magnum archive to coordinate exhibitions of contemporary and vintage work, as well as publications projects. It was during her tenure at Magnum that Swanson became aware of the increasing market for image licensing rights and reproduction. In 1987, Swanson joined the team of photography professionals headed by David Cohen and Rick Smolan, founders of the "Day In The Life" series, to coordinate the traveling exhibition of Day in the Life of America. She later worked with this team to produce "SO FAR," a publication celebrating ten years of Apple Computer. She served as Assignment Editor for this publication, overseeing production of images by noted photojournalists. Following the Day in the Life project, Swanson joined the staff of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she held a joint position within the departments of Photography and Film (1989-1991). Swanson was the founding director of the American Photography Institute at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and directed the film festivals, an important launch of new talent with eagerly anticipated screenings in NYC and Los Angeles. In 1991, Swanson launched the business she had long envisioned, establishing SWANSTOCK, a landmark alternative agency, managing licensing rights for fine art photographers. At the time of its merger (1997) with The Image Bank, a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak, Swanstock represented the works of over 600 noted fine art photographers, including Tom Baril, Keith Carter, Linda Connor, Macduff Everton, Sally Gall, Mark Klett and Olivia Parker. The agency was the subject of cover stories in Photo District News (PDN) and Advertising Age¹s Creativity Magazine in 1994, and articles in Communication Arts and Creative Review, among other publications upon the launch of its marketing catalogue in 1998, which more closely resembled an art book than licensing sales tools of the day. Mervyn Kurlansky, a founder of Pentagram London, designed the book. In 1999, The Image Bank sold all its agencies to Getty Images, which subsequently closed Swanstock. This unique agency is fondly remembered by the photography and client communities alike as the preeminent source for fine art imagery and exceptional representation of extraordinary photographers. Many industry professionals continue to seek creative advice from Ms. Swanson in planning their campaigns. Additionally, Swanson has served as an expert witness on legal cases dealing with valuation of commercial and fine art photography collections and archives. Swanson continues her commitment to bringing photography and photographers to new markets through consulting, lectures and educational programming. Swanson has recently joined "The Fuji Talent Team" of Fuji Photo Film USA, which has sponsored her "Target Your Market" lectures at regional meetings of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), including San Diego, Phoenix and Philadelphia in 2002. Swanson served as an Advisor and recently was named as Board Member to the ASMP's Education Foundation. Swanson is a favorite reviewer at noted photography portfolio events such as "FotoFest," "Review Americas" and "Review Santa Fe" in the USA, and "Rhubarb Festival" in the UK, important gatherings of emerging talent and industry professionals. She coordinated a day of educational programming at FotoFest 2002 and 2004 events. At the Project Symposium component of Review Santa Fe in 2003, Swanson organized and moderated a panel on "Strategies for Emerging Artists" that was very well received. She has participated annually at this even. For this past year¹s Symposium "Publishing the Photographic Book" she contributed a presentation on publishing contracts. This successful Symposium is being repeated at this year¹s photo l.a. event. Since 2001, Swanson has been a popular presenter at PhotoPlus Expo, the annual gathering of industry professionals, product developers and manufacturers sponsored by Photo District News, held at the Javitts center in New York City. Among the seminars she has given to this professional audience are "Presenting Your Work to the Fine Art Market", "Choosing a Career with your Camera" and "Licensing Rights: A Primer"." In conjunction with the Center for Creative Photography's ANSEL ADAMS CENTENNIEL Exhibition in 2002, Swanson presented a lecture entitled "Ansel Adams: Educator." Subsequently, she expanded her original research on Mr. Adams, and presented "Ansel Adams: Advocate for American Photography" at the 2003 National Meeting of the Society for Photographic Education, and later at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in conjunction with Atlanta Celebrates Photography (October 2003), as well as at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in 2004. Since 1999, Swanson continues her passion of bringing professional awareness to photography students, gaining a solid reputation for one who brings practical advice to the classroom. She has spoken on careers in photography to graduating seniors and graduate candidates at many colleges and universities including Tyler School of Art, University of the Arts (both Philadelphia), Emerson College, Simmons and Massachusetts College of the Arts (Boston), College for Creative Studies (Detroit), San Francisco Art Institute, Pratt (Brooklyn), School of Visual Arts, NYU/Tisch School of the Arts, University of New Mexico and Arizona State University among other institutions. Swanson is an active member of the Society for Photographic Education (SPE), rising through the ranks of regional and national board participation, culminating in chairing its national meeting in 1992. She has served as a presenter and portfolio reviewer at nearly every national meeting since her tenure on the board. In 2002, she co-coordinated a pre-conference workshop for scholarship recipients and conference volunteers entitled "Making and Marketing Art: Strategies for a Career as an Artist" sponsored by Hasselblad which continues annually. In the fall of 2002, she developed a course for School of the Visual Art's MFA Program called "Professional Practices""Marketing Guidebook for Photographers," which is used as a course book at many colleges. Swanson conducts marketing workshops for photographers at many prominent institutions, and conducts repeat visits annually to the Santa Fe Workshops, the Maine Photographic Workshops and the International Center for Photography in New York City. She has also presented lectures at Women in Photography/New England, Professional Women Photographers (NYC), PhotoAlliance and The Print Center (Philadelphia). Swanson¹s writing on marketing photography has established a broader dialogue with photographers through various industry publications. She is a columnist for www.teachingphoto.com, contributes regularly to pdn.edu, and has written for Photo District News and American Photo On Campus. She co-authors, with Darius Himes, a column on "Publishing The Photographic Book" in the PhotoEye Booklist that has recently been syndicated in American Photographer. Among the many events Swanson was involved with in 2005 include leading a seminar on "Collecting Contemporary Photography" at photo l.a., and participating as a Portfolio Reviewer at Photolucida and Review Santa Fe, with summer 2005 teaching engagements at the Minnesota Center for Photography, Santa Fe Workshops, Santa Fe Center for Photography (SFCP), Photographic Center Northwest, International Center for Photography and Maine Photographic Workshops. She conducted a marketing workshop sponsored by SFCP hosted by photo ny, and presented two seminars at PhotoPlus Expo sponsored by Photo District News magazine. Swanson contributed to an article on the book jacket market for fine art photography in PDN, and Swanson was again published in Photo Technics Magazine (Germany). To date in 2006, Swanson coordinated the 'Creative Edge' lecture sponsored by SFCP and hosted by photo la entitled "The Business of being an Artist". She attended The Photo Show (AIPAD) and will presenting lectures at the SILVER symposium (March, Pasadena), the National Meeting of the Society for Photographic Education (March, Chicago) and the Agency VII West Coast Seminar (April, Pasadena). Swanson will be giving the keynote address for the New England School of Photography, as well as conducting her annual summer workshops in Santa Fe and Maine, She will serve as a Port