When Fred Sway was in high school, his family moved from an apartment to a house, complete with a beautiful yard and large screened porch.

That house was the inspiration for his series of photographs, Porch Light, featured in the Atelier and Griffin galleries of the Griffin Museum September 9 through November 7. Opening reception is September 15.

“The previous owners were in the nursery business; so with our new home came a truly magical garden,” says Sway. “Varied, rare, and colorful plantings filled our backyard so profusely that there was only a bit of grass.”

He says the modest white stucco house with green trim was built in 1915, from an 1891 design. “Indeed, it possesses many graceful architectural features, one of which is a large screened porch with arches, neatly shaded by plantings, where for years, my brother and I slept on hot summer nights,” Sway says. “The memories of this delightful house and its extravagant flora can enfold me in their aura even now.”

Sway began the Porch Light project in early 2009. “Sometimes the pictures bring to mind another time and place,” he says.

Sway has a master’s degree from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago. He has taught photography at Southern Illinois University; worked as a photographer for the Gillette Company; was director of the New England School of Photography and director of photo services for Boston University. He was a finalist in the Artists Foundation of Massachusetts and is a former member of the Polaroid Collection.