Biography
April 22nd 1984 Ansel
Adams died at age 82 signaling a new era of photographic exploration. Ten days later, amidst the Aquarid meteor shower, as Great
Britain performed their last nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site, while simultaneously
kicking off National Photo Month, Brian Sweeney was born. May 1st 1984 in Reno, Nevada
was a day like every other, except now there was a baby boy who was hungry for
more than mediocrity.
At age 10, Brian was selected from
his Fifth grade art class to help a visiting artist paint a mural at his school
of Huffaker Elementary. Thus began
BrianŐs involvement with the arts as both an art maker and as a student.
At age 11 Brian went to NASA Space
Camp, which had a profound influence on his mode of thinking. Fueling his fascination with space
itself, BrianŐs trip to Space Camp also began his contempt for the
institutionalized and closed minded modes of investigating space that formed
the pedagogy of NASAŐs program.
From his entry into High School, Brian
became an avid rock climber and has been climbing consistently ever since. Climbing became BrianŐs primary means
of investigating movement through space and has shaped his outlook on the world
into a more aware and present state of mind. This focus on our ever-transitory existence has affected
every aspect of his life and work.
As his love affair with rock
climbing began to deepen, he discovered an affinity for the camera that he used
to document his climbing adventures.
Not long after his climbing photographer career began, it took off. With multiple publishing in various
climbing magazines, clothing catalogues, and guidebooks, Brian has become a
respected member of and contributor to the climbing community.
Amidst traveling and documenting
his adventures, Brian began to study art at the University of Nevada,
Reno. While studying in Reno, he
became determined to make work that didnŐt treat aesthetics and conceptual
validity as mutually exclusive qualities.
As his photographic work matured, he began to combine his understanding
of the world through climbing with his understanding of art trough
academia. This combination of
pseudoscientific material with aesthetic imagery has enabled him to challenge the
expectations of the photographic medium.
In May of 2007 Brian received a
Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Nevada, Reno and hopes to continue
on and receive a Masters of Fine Arts so he can become a professor of
photography and art.