2005-2006 Fall Directions - Friends' Central School

Todd Swimmer ’81
Deliberate in word and in deed, Todd Swimmer ’81
dislikes the spotlight. A part-time art instructor
teaching photography and studio art at FCS, Todd
has spent the last ten years helping students use art as a
creative outlet. He adds that he considers photography “a tool
to enhance perception and communication, not an end in
itself.” And while Upper School art colleague Peter Seidel calls
Todd “a consummate craftsman—a great example for the students
to see,” Todd himself is humbled by the challenge of
making great art and is reluctant to mention his impressive
photographic successes. With an undergraduate degree in
Environmental Studies from S.U.N.Y. College and an M.F.A
in Photography from Tyler School of Art, Todd has been
awarded Purchase Prizes by the Philadelphia Museum of Art,
the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, and the Johnson
and Johnson Collection.
Todd traces his artistic roots back to FCS and mentions
that while he was not an academic star, he did find his niche at
the School. Nurtured by then-photography teacher Bob
Emory who “encouraged a sense of experimentation, deliberate
Recently, Todd’s work was included in a retrospective photography exhibition
for the Perkins Center for the Arts in Moorestown, New Jersey.
Implement Seller, Cameroon 2000 Child Playing in Stonetown Streets,
Zanzibar 2003
control of a range of photographic processes,” he won many
awards in the Annual Photography contests that still are a large
part of the arts at FCS today. As a student, he reveled in the
School’s Quaker values; when he graduated, he missed
Meeting for Worship greatly. The choice to return to FCS and
teach was driven by the Quaker tenets and his Jewish heritage;
Todd believes that the combination of the two produce a
framework “with a broader sense of purpose.” This conceptual
FEATURES
framework has also helped Todd
further his interest in photography,
environmental conservation, and the
African continent.
Because “a Friends education offers opportunities
and responsibilities to connect our lives and
our community to people and communities not only through
consciousness but also through actions,” Todd has spent most
of every other summer since 1992 traveling in Africa. His
experiences have included visiting schools, bicycle trips, photographing
for UNICEF, hiking, white water rafting, volunteering
for scientific research, attending art gallery openings, and
enjoying great food.
Fascinated with Africa since childhood when his uncle
would tell of his Peace Corps experiences in Tanzania, Todd has
deep interests in the continent which, he states, “continue to
evolve in breadth and depth, from environmental conservation
policies and programs to politics, sustainable development,
human rights, history, music, film, and food.” His ongoing
artistic and personal project in Africa concerns contemporary
Africans who are try-
ing to make sense of
the socio-economic
and political climates
of their vast and complex
continent. What
Todd has discovered
in his work there is
that “most people in
Africa have many of
the same concerns we
have in America:
family, money, decent
jobs, good education,
access to healthcare,
fulfilling spirituality,
effective governance,
and a hopeful future.”
This past summer,
Todd spent six weeks
in Namibia and
Botswana, including
four weeks of volunteer
work on two
Earthwatch animal
research projects studying the black rhino and Nile crocodile.
And just as Todd returns repeatedly to Africa, committed to
fulfill a greater sense of his life’s purpose, Peter Seidel passionately
asserts, “he [Todd] is committed to the process of
constructing an enduring image.” Without a doubt, Todd
remains modest and unassuming as he faces the challenge of
being an artist and a citizen of the world.
DIRECTIONS Fall 2005 43