Dona Schwartz

Dona Schwartz has been professionally involved with photography for more than twenty years. She earned her PhD at the Annenberg School for Communications and emerged as a prominent advocate for and practitioner of photographic ethnography. Her current research interests concern the nature of the boundaries between
photojournalism, documentary and fine art photography, and the movement within and between these socially constructed domains. Schwartz is an active photographic artist and exhibitor. Her most recent award-winning photographic project, "In the Kitchen," has been
exhibited and published internationally.

Education

Ph.D., Communications, University of Pennsylvania, The Annenberg School for Communication

M.A., Communications, University of Pennsylvania, The Annenberg School for Communication

Current Interests

• Documentary Photography: Practice, history and theory
• Visual communication
• Visual research methods

Courses Taught

JOUR 3006, Visual Communication

JOUR 4302, Electronic Photojournalism

JOUR 4316, Theories of Visual Communication

JOUR 4990, Documentary Photojournalism

JOUR 5615, History of the Documentary

JOUR 8317, Seminar: Visual Communication Research

JOUR 8513, Seminar: Ethnographic Methods in Mass Communication Research

Recent Exhibitions

Solo

2006
In the Kitchen, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
In the Kitchen, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada

2004
In the Kitchen, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN

Group

2007    
The Photographic Portrait Prize 2007, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK

Spectra '07 National Photography Triennial, Silvermine Guild Art Center, New Canaan, CT

Kinsey Confidential, Kinsey Institute Gallery, Indiana University

Photographers:Network, Studio Thomas Kellner, Siegen, Germany

Interactions, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO

Suburban/Domestic, Salina Art Center, Salina Kansas

Photocentric, Minnesota Center for Photography Juried Member’s Exhibition, Minneapolis, MN

Regarding Intimacy, Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College, New York, NY

2006

Center Awards Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA

Photo Review Best of Show, University of the Arts Gallery 1401, Philadelphia, PA

Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China

Domestic Diaries, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL

Selbstsicht—der Schritt ins Bild, Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Darmstädt, Germany

Aus Amerika, Galerie Lichtblick, Köln, Germany

12th Annual Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA

Selbstsicht—der Schritt ins Bild , Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Darmstädt, Germany

Aus Amerika , Galerie Lichtblick, Köln, Germany

2005

Artists Interrogate: Race and Identity, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI

Contemporary American Photography, 7th Internationale Fototage, Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, Germany

Photocentric , Minnesota Center for Photography Juried Member’s Exhibition

15th Annual Center Awards Juried Competition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA

Focused, Photographic Center Northwest 10th Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Seattle, WA

Members’ Juried Exhibition, Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, Boston, MA

11th Annual Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA

2004

14th Annual Center Awards Juried Competition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA

Visual Proof! Photographic Center Northwest, 9th Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Seattle, WA

Honors, Fellowships, Grants

2007            

Jurors’ Selection, “Transformations”, Fotofest 200

Juror’s Selection, “Interactions”, Center for Fine Art Photography

2006

Semifinalist, The Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman First Book Prize in Photography

Photo Review Best of Show, Sixth Prize
Griffin Award, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA

Honorable Mention, HCP Photography Fellowship, Houston Center for Photography

2005

Finalist, Santa Fe Prize for Photography

Finalist, MCAD/Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists

Nominee, No Strings Foundation Grant

Critical Mass Top 50 Photographer

2004

Honorable Mention, Visual Proof! Photographic Center Northwest, 9th Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Seattle, WA

Books

Contesting the Super Bowl. New York and London: Routledge, 1997

Waucoma Twilight: Generations of the Farm. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992

Bibliography

“Artists Showcase” Camera Arts, July/August, 2007

“Zoom In: Photographer Dona Schwartz” access+ENGAGE, Issue #15.1, mnartists.org, reprinted in 10,000 Arts, Minnesota's Creative Quarterly, August 2007

"How I Shot This," Interview by Debbie Grossman. Popular Photography, January 2007

“In the Kitchen” Magenta Magazine, V.1 (1) Spring 2006

“In the Kitchen: Words and Work by Dona Schwartz.” Hotshoe, October/November 2005

“Fokus auf Dona Schwartz: Das Zentrum des Lebens.” Frankfurter Rundschau Magazin, October 22, 2005

“Discoveries of the Meeting Place: Photographers and photographic projects that caught our attention at the Fotofest 2004,” Hans- Michael Koetzle, Leica World 2/2004

Public Collections

George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX