Benjamin Swett is a writer and photographer whose books combining photographs and text include include Route 22 and New York City of Trees, which won the 2013 New York City Book Award for Photography. His essay collection The Beauty of the Camera will be published by New York Review Books in fall 2024. He is the author and photographer of guidebooks to the Hudson Valley and to New York City’s Great Trees, and collaborated with the singer/songwriter Heather Woods Broderick to produce the collaborative book/CD of photographs and song Home Winds. His recent essays have appeared in Agni, Salmagundi, Orion, Prism International, and Fiction magazines.. He has received grants and fellowships from The International Grenfell Association, Furthermore, the Millay Colony for the Arts, and the Breadloaf Writer’s Conference and has been featured in articles in The New York Times and The New Yorker. A writer and photographer for the New York City Parks Department for thirteen years, Swett founded the Parks in Print program, which produced books, brochures, maps, and guides for New York City’s underserved parks. He currently teaches undergraduate writing at City College in Manhattan and adult photography at Wave Hill in the Bronx; his photographs are in private, corporate, and public collections including the Museum of the City of New York.
BOOKS:
The Beauty of the Camera (forthcoming, New York Review Books, 2024)
New York City of Trees (New York: Quantuck Lane Press, 2013; reissued as Trees of New York City by Countryman Press in 2017))
The Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide (New York: Quantuck Lane Press, 2009)
Route 22 (New York, Quantuck Lane Press, 2007)
Great Trees of New York City: A Guide (New York: New York Tree Trust, 2000
SOLO EXHIBITS:
- Planthouse Gallery, NYC, “30/30,” 9/12-10/13, 2019
- BCB Art, Hudson, “That Unruly Sun: Interpretations of Shaker Interiors,” 10/20-11/18, 2018
- Planthouse Gallery, NYC, “Home Winds,” April 28-June 22, 2017
- Wave Hill, Bronx, NY “New York City of Trees,” June 2015-March, 2016
- BCB Art, Hudson, NY, “Shin Creek,” October 11-November 9, 2014
- Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, “New York City of Trees,” March 6-April 26, 2013
- Albany International Airport, Concourse A Gallery, “Route 22,” May 2010-January 2011
- Beaverkill Garage, Lew Beach, NY, “Shin Creek,” Dec. 2006-March 2007
- Sand Lake Center for the Arts, Averill Park, NY, “Route 22,” April 2006
- Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY. “Route 22,” Feb-Mar, 2005
- Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY. “Route 22,” June-August, 2004
- Wave Hill, Bronx, NY “New York City Trees,” June-August, 2001
- An American Space Gallery NYC, “Great Trees of New York City,” June-July 2000
BOOKS (contributor):
- Home Winds (New York: Planthouse Books, 2017–Photographer)
- The Countryside of Aphrodisias (Ann Arbor, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 2017–contributing photographer)
- Waterproofing New York (New York: Terreform, Inc., 2015–contributor)
- Aphrodisias V: The Aphrodisias Regional Survey (Darmstadt/Mainz, Germany: Philipp von Zabern, 2012–contributing photographer).
- Archaeology and the Cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiquity (Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 2011–contributing photographer)
- New York: A Photographer’s City (New York: Rizzoli, 2011–contributor)
- 100 New York Photographers (New York: Schiffer Books, 2009–contributor)
- New York City Trees: a Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002–contributor)
- Insight Guide, Italy (Singapore, APA Productions, 1986–contributor)
- Insight Guide: New York (Singapore, APA Productions, 1986–contributor)
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS:
- Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, “Hudson Athens Light,” 3/23-6/9, 2019
- French Shore Interpr. Cntr, Conche, NL, “Grandois/St. Julien’s 1977-2015,” Aug ’16-Jan ’17
- Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, “Art Meets Art,” June-August, 2013
- CAS Arts Center, Livingston Manor, NY, “21 : A Life in Photographs,” Sept-Oct 2011
- Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, “Warren Street,” June-August, 2011
- Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY, “Local Self-Portraits,” June-August, 2010
- G.A.S. Visual Arts, Poughkeepsie, NY, “Bridges and the Span of Time,” Sep-Oct 2009
- Bronx River Art Center, Bronx, NY, “Surprisingly Natural,” Sep-Oct, 2008
- Catskill Mountain Foundation Gallery, Hunter, NY, “In Full Bloom,” May-June, 2008
- Joie de Livres, Salisbury, CT, “Spring Awakening,” May-June, 2008
- Outsider’s Studio, Livingston Manor, NY, Sep. 1-29, 2007 “Through the Optic Nerve”
- Abrons Arts Center NYC, “Trees of Knowing,” October-December, 2006
- Michael Ingbar Gallery NYC, “It’s About Real Estate,” May 2006-Jan. 2007
- Mt. Sinai-Irving J. Selikoff Center NYC, “Nature in New York,” 2003-2007
- Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Queens Jewels: A History of Queens Parks,” June-Sep 2002
- Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Waterways, New York and Scotland,” Sep-Oct 2001
- Michael Ingbar Gallery NYC, “The New York Skyline,” July-November, 2001
- Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY, “Art at Steepletop,” July 2001
- Arsenal Gallery NYC, “Greener Pastures: Bronx Parks,” June-July, 2001
- Scott Pfaffman Gallery NYC, “For the Trees,” May-July, 2000
SOME ESSAYS and ARTICLES:
- “My Father’s Green Album,” Salmagundi Magazine, No. 210-211, Spring-Summer 2021
- “What I wanted to tell you about the wind,” Orion, Spring 2021.
- “VR,” Prism International, Issue Number 58.3, Spring 2020 (“Sprawl”).Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2021.
- “The Picture Not Taken,” Fiction Magazine Issue Number 64, September 2019. Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2020.
- 30/30, an exhibition catalogue, Planthouse Books, October 2019
- “The Ancients: Lake George’s Ancient Trees,” Adirondack Life (May/June 2014), with Neil Pederson.
- “Trees of New York,” Cabinet (Winter 2012/13, Issue 48).
AWARDS, GRANTS, RESIDENCIES:
- International Grenfell Association 2015 grant for “Creating the Grandois Archive.”
- 2013 New York City Book Award for Photography for New York City of Trees
- Furthermore research and publication grants for:
– New York City of Trees (2010, 2012)
– The Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide (2008)
– Route 22 (2005, 2006) - Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, N.Y. One-Month Residency. (Aug 1999)
- Breadloaf Writer’s Conference, Middlebury, VT “Working Scholar” (August 1989)
SELECTED FREELANCE CLIENTS:
Adirondack Life Magazine, Alliance for the Arts, Archaeological Excavation of Aphrodisias, Art Omi, Arthur Ross Foundation, Bridge Street Development Corporation, Broadway Mall Association, The Brearley School, Central Park Conservancy, Christodora, Inc., City of New York/Parks & Recreation, City Parks Foundation, Eric Cohler Design, Fantastic Man, GreenThumb, Highbridge Community Development Corporation, Historic House Trust, Zev Katz, Madison Square Park Conservancy, Morningside Area Alliance, National Tree Trust, National Park Service, New York Community Trust, New York Gastroenterological Associates, New Yorkers for Parks, New York Restoration Project, New York Times Book Review, New York Times, Notion Archaeological Survey, Park Avenue Christian Church Day School, Phipps Houses, Inc., Times Square Alliance, Wave Hill, Woodlawn Cemetery, private clients.
EMPLOYMENT
- City College of New York, Adjunct Assistant Professor of English, 2019-present
- Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, Photography Instructor, 2008-present
- Freelance Writing and Photography, 2001-present
- City of New York/Parks & Recreation, writer and photographer, 1988-2001
- Freelance Writing and Photography, 1985-1988
- The Patent Trader Newspaper, Mount Kisco, NY, reporter, 1984-1985
EDUCATION:
- City College of New York, MFA, Creative Writing, 2019
- Harvard College, BA Magna Cum Laude 1982, English & American Literature.
Benjamin Swett 