Larry W. Schwarm

(b.1944; resides Emporia, KS)

Larry Schwarm’s photographs of prairie fires are saturated with vibrant color. Under skies of varying blue or the deep purple of dusk, the red and orange hues of fire illuminate the night and paint the grass and grain fields with their warm tones. These square pictures deftly balance ground and sky, hot and cold, creating scenes that are strangely harmonious, while never losing sight of the awesome power of the blazes they depict.

Schwarm holds his BFA (1969) and MFA (1976) from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. His photographs have been published in Harper’s magazine and Blind Spot, and exhibited at the Sheldon Gallery of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and the Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, Kansas. Schwarm is currently an associate professor of art at Emporia State University and has work collected by Hallmark, the Library of Congress, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.