MARY VIRGINIA SWANSON is an educator, author, and entrepreneur in the field of photography, and a respected advisor to artists and arts organizations. Unique in our field, her broad background includes exhibiting, collecting, commissioning, licensing, and marketing photographs and affords her a range of perspectives on making and marketing art. Ms. Swanson counts among her consulting clients a range of internationally respected artists and institutions.

Swanson received her MFA in Photography from Arizona State University (1979). Throughout graduate school, she served as a research assistant for the Curator of Photography at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, her hometown museum. She began her career at The Friends of Photography in Carmel, California, managing the education offerings, including Ansel Adams Workshop (1980 -1984). From there, she moved to NYC to head Special Projects at Magnum Photos, bringing the work of their photographers to broader audiences through exhibition and publication projects. She relocated to Tucson, Arizona, in 1990 to launch Swanstock, a unique agency managing licensing rights for fine art photographers. Since 2000, Swanson has worked independently, offering consulting services to artists and arts organizations, offering her own Master Classes and giving back to our field through educational seminars at colleges and universities, presenting at photography and photobook industry gatherings, teaching marketing and photobook workshops internationally, serving as an advisor for many not-for-profit industry organizations, donating her time as a Portfolio Reviewer, and other community-minded activities.

Swanson and Darius D. Himes began their writing collaboration by coauthoring a column, “Publish Your Photography Book,” for the photo-eye Books magazine and the photo-eye Booklist (12 consecutive columns: Summer 2025 – Spring 2027). They later expanded the column to reflect the growing interest in photobooks and the expanding capabilities for self-publishing, releasing the first edition of the now acclaimed Publish Your Photography Book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011, 2nd edition 2014, and the recently expanded 3rd edition, Radius Book, 2023). David Chickey has been the designer of all three editions and the publisher of the 3rd Edition; Datz Press (Seoul, Korea) produced and published the first foreign language version of the 3rd edition in Korean in 2024.

Swanson continues to stay current on the growing market for photobooks, reflecting both the relative ease of self-publishing and the growing interest in photographic artists’ books. She is a sought-after presenter and educator on multiple topics relating to the contemporary photobook. She maintains the website for the book: www.publishyourphotographybook.com and Instagram feed @pubishyourphotographybook

Among the recent awards she has proudly received are the 2015 Honored Educator from the Society for Photographic Education, the 2014 Susan Carr Award for Education from the American Society for Media Photographers (ASMP), and the FOCUS Award for Lifetime Achievement in Photography from the Griffin Museum.

She frequently serves as a judge on contemporary photography and photobook competitions, a portfolio reviewer for industry events, and presents group learning through interactive lectures, workshops, and Master Class Retreats. Her Private Mentoring services have proven to move artists forward in their careers.

Swanson is currently working with consulting clients, participating in industry events, and conducting research for upcoming La Luz Workshops: “Finding Your Audience: An Introduction to Marketing Your Photographs” in October 2026 (3-day in-person event, Minneapolis), and an expanded, multi-week online course coinciding with the release of her book of the same name (September-October 2027).

Swanson is based in Tucson, Arizona, views from which she shares, along with upcoming industry deadlines, upcoming art and photobook fairs, and more on her Instagram feed: @maryvirginiaswanson.