ernest j. schweit photography

My bio, my work

I'm a freelance photographer living  about 40 miles northwest of Chicago. I focus on landscape, travel and editorial photography, all with a fine art bent. My photographic journey--like that of many photographers--began when my dad handed me a film camera for my 7th birthday. Along the way, there was a lengthy detour in the newspaper business, with photography relegated to fits and starts between gigs as an editor and writer. That all changed in 2009, when the Great Recession forced me into the ranks of the unemployed. So I picked up my camera and off I went. There quickly followed a photo book, "Wisconsin Barns," a stint teaching photography, time in the commercial photo world, and the opportunity and freedom to explore the artform. With influences like Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, David Plowden and Sam Abel, I set out on the journey of developing my own "voice." I quickly realized--and continue to believe--that the camera is an amazing tool; it can give you exactly what it sees, or it can give you what you see. And what I see as a fine art photographer is never what the camera sees. My vision is based on my personal experiences; what I see in the work of others, the shapes and textures that attract me, even the feelings of the places in which I exist, be them at home or in a far off local like Paris. Adams called that visualization; using the camera and its related tools to produce a vision in the imagination of the at the controls. That's what I try to bring to every image that I make and to each picture I offer on this website: a unique view of my world.