Sophie Joseph Schwartz is an artist and educator living between Brooklyn, NY and Cleveland, OH. Their practice positions collaboration as an entry point to explore grief, memory, and queer connection.
Schwartz earned an MFA from Yale School of Art in 2023 where they were awarded the Richard Benson Prize and the Harvey Geiger Travel Fellowship, following a BA in Modern Culture + Media from Brown University in 2017. They were a finalist for the 2023 Silver List, Dorothea Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Critical Mass, and the Palm Photo Prize. Their work has been exhibited at Camera Club, LaMama Galleria, François Ghebaly, Benrubi Gallery, AMANITA, Penumbra Foundation, Cleveland Print Room and Silver Eye Center for Photography, among others. They’ve been a recent artist in residence at Visual Studies Workshop, WORTHLESSSTUDIO, Flower City Arts Center, Penumbra Foundation, and Haystack. Publications including Cultured, i-D, VICE, Vogue, BOOOOOOOM, WÜL Magazine, and Architectural Digest are recent clients.
In 2023, Schwartz published their debut book, With and For, through Tall Poppy Press in Melbourne. They have previously taught at Rhode Island School of Design and Yale Norfolk School of Art, and currently serve on the faculty at New York University Steinhardt, and Penumbra Foundation. Schwartz is the co-director of Rubylith Darkroom in Brooklyn, NY.
image by ian lewandowski