Dick Swanson
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Dick L. Swanson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1934 US |
| Education | University of Illinois |
| Known for | Photojournalism |
| Spouse | Germaine Loc Swanson (m. 1969) |
| Website | swansonphotography |
Dick L. Swanson is an American photographer renowned for his work, particularly as a war photographer with numerous published photographs[1] in the United States.[2][3]
Early life
Dick Swanson was born in 1934 and raised in Illinois. He worked at newspapers owned by his uncle and later became a staff photographer at the News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois while studying at the University of Illinois.
Life magazine first published one of his photos, a Miscellany called A Bubble that has Ears, in 1957.[4] Swanson temporarily gave up photography to become a commercial pilot.[5] Following college, he worked for The Des Moines Register and the Davenport Democrat[6] and he later signed a contract with New York's Black Star.[3] Swanson worked for the Des Moines Register, where he shot "Man Alone", a photograph of a firefighter on a ladder engulfed in flames, which was recognized by the 1963 Pulitzer jury as "good on-the-spot work".[7][8]
Vietnam
In 1966, Swanson went on assignment for Life to Vietnam, where he met his future wife, Germaine Loc; they married in 1969 in Vietnam and moved to the US in 1971.[9][10] For his work in Vietnam, he was recognized as among the top military photographers by the project "A Day in the Life of the United States Armed Forces."[11] Eventually Swanson became a White House photographer for Life until the magazine ended publication in 1972. Swanson stayed at the White House bureau and worked for such magazines as Fortune, People,[12] and Time.
Later life
In April 1975, Swanson returned to Vietnam to bring his wife's family to the United States during the fall of Saigon.[13][14][15][16] He took time off from photography in the late 1970s to help his wife open a Washington DC restaurant which was popular in 1979.[17]
Around 1980, Swanson began working for National Geographic, Newsweek and The Washington Post as a freelance photographer. Currently he uses Final Cut Pro for all his work and is a producer of films for the Video Action Fund.[2]
