Larry Schwarm "On fire" exhibit photographs, 1990s, 2003

Navigate the Collection

Using These Materials Teaser

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Original recording is closed to access; use copy needs to be made in order to access content. Photographs are for education use only; reproduction or commercial use...
More about accessing and using these materials...

Summary

Creator:
Schwarm, Larry, 1944-, Duke University. Center for Documentary Studies, and Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Abstract:
Collection comprises 76 color photographic prints, measuring from 11x14 to 20x24 inches, depicting the annual prairie fires that sweep across east-central Kansas. These images were taken during the 1990s; the artist has continued taking images of prairie fires up to the present (2015). For the 1990s project, published in a book entitled "On fire," Schwarm was awarded the 2002 Honigman First Book Prize in Photography by the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham, North Carolina. The photographs were displayed in an exhibit entitled "On fire: Larry Schwarm," at Duke University's Rubenstein Library. Also included in the collection is an audio cassette recording of the artist's talk Schwarm gave on November 6, 2003, at the exhibit's opening reception. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.
Extent:
7 Linear Feet (6 boxes; 76 prints)
Physical description:
76 color photographs; 1 audio cassette
Language:
Materials are in English
Collection ID:
RL.11198

Background

Scope and content:

Collection comprises 76 color photographic prints, measuring from 11x14 to 20x24 inches, depicting the annual prairie fires that sweep across east-central Kansas. With the exception of one box of unmatted 11x14 prints, the photographs are in hinged window mats measuring 16x20, 20x24, and 24x32 inches. The images were published in a photobook entitled "On fire," for which Schwarm was awarded the 2002 Honigman First Book Prize in Photography by the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham, North Carolina. The photographs were displayed in an exhibit at Duke University Libraries. Also included in the collection is an audio cassette recording of the exhibition talk Schwarm gave on November 6, 2003. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Larry Schwarm studied photography and received his MFA and BFA in photography and sculpture from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Recognizing the fascination that all human beings have with fire, he began photographing the annual midwestern prairie fires in the early 1990s and has continued with this work until 2015. Other recent bodies of work document the F-5 tornado that hit his hometown, Greensburg, Kansas, in 2007; the lives of Kansas farmers, as part of the "Biofuels and Climate Change: Farmers' Land Use Decisions project," funded in part by the National Science Foundation; and life and society in Cuba, 2010. In 2013–2014, Schwarm was one of eighty artists featured in the exhibit "A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum." His works are held by many museums and galleries in the United States, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Library of Congress. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Photography at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.

Acquisition information:
The Larry Schwarm "On fire" exhibit photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2003.
Processing information:

Processed by Paula Jeannet, 2016.

Accession(s) represented in this collection guide: 2003-0269.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Original recording is closed to access; use copy needs to be made in order to access content. Photographs are for education use only; reproduction or commercial use of any kind requires the donor's written permission.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Before you visit:
Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Larry Schwarm "On fire" exhibit photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.