Caleb Swann

Caleb Swann (b. 1987) is a multidisciplinary artist whose current focus lies in both traditional and experimental photography. He travels throughout the United States meticulously documenting special interests, often amassing thousands of similar images and collecting them together in order to realize connections otherwise hidden in plain sight.

When stationary, he slows down and takes advantage of studio space to explore and experiment with materials and ideas, generally transitioning from looking outward to looking inward. The through line in all of Caleb’s work is the relationships between spaces and humans, natural or contrived, and how they inform each other.

Caleb’s work was featured in ‘As a Bright Star Unseen‘ on view September 13-28, 2025.

You are not dead to us, but as a bright star unseen. We hold that you are ever near, though Death intrudes between.

-Epitaph, attrib. Vermont Marble Co. Early 1900s

“For over a decade, I’ve been photographing cemeteries, burial grounds, and memorials across the United States. I aim to photograph in a way that encourages viewers to pause, to look closely, and to linger.

My process is rooted in slow, deliberate observation. I spend time with each site, often returning, drawn in by small details that reveal the care and choices of those left behind. I see these places not as static markers, but as portraits. Whether grand and expressive, quiet or nearly hidden they are all acts of remembrance. Even as time and weather begin to wear them away, something of the person endures.

These sites also offer spaces for connection, where grief becomes ritual and presence can still be felt. I’m moved by the ways people return to visit their loved ones, leaving offerings, tending to graves, and continuing conversations long after someone is gone.

At its core, this work is about the intersections of grief, communion, and love. It comforts me to know that the memory of a person can continue to shine, like a star still present in the sky, even when we can’t always see it.”

“Following my mother’s death in 2023, I began making these delicate polaroid transfers as a means to explore and celebrate the flower gardens she cultivated at my childhood home.”

Caleb’s work was featured in ‘Presently‘ on view December 14-22, 2024.