Exhibition

Turning 50 deserves a party! In 2025, the Center of Creative Photography (CCP) celebrates five decades of collecting with an exhibition of more than 100 photographs and archival objects drawn from its vast holdings. Picture Party brings these items together in ways that create visual “conversations” across time and place – and that also welcomes you, the viewer, into dialogue with the many ways artists have used photography, from the earliest days of the medium to today. Come join the party and discover how students, scholars, artists, and visitors gain new ideas, insights, and inspiration from the CCP’s unparalleled collection.

Featuring more than 50 works from the collection of the Center for Creative Photography (CCP), Richard Avedon: Among Creatives presents the work of legendary American photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004), highlighting his distinctive photographic portraits of fellow artists, actors, writers, and more, in addition to his contributions to fashion photography.   

Richard Avedon: Among Creatives is co-organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. Its presentation at Phoenix Art Museum is curated by Emilia Mickevicius, PhD, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography, and is drawn from the larger traveling exhibition, Richard Avedon: Relationships, curated by Rebecca Senf, PhD, Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography. 

Chicana Photographers LA! features the work of five Chicana artists from Los Angeles who share common concerns about families, neighborhoods, sacred spaces, and body and identity politics.

Featuring 41 photographs produced from the early 1980s to 2024, this exhibition considers domestic and environmental transformations occurring across the artists’ home turf, some cultural, demographic, and diasporic, others directly confronting the impact of gentrification on Chicanx communities.

From Christina Fernandez’ suburban landscapes to Sandra de la Loza’s archaeological ruins of a beloved neighborhood to the situated biographical and autobiographical portraits by Laura Aguilar (1959–2018), Amina Cruz, and Star Montana, the vast cultural terrain of Southern California, is depicted and infused with family narratives, memory, and belonging.

Curated by Sybil Venegas, independent curator and art historian, Chicana Photographers LA! reprises an exhibition of the same name held at Occidental College’s Weingart Gallery in 2017. The Center for Creative Photography’s updated presentation is held in conjunction with Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectiva. 

Opening celebration

April 6, 2024, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

CCP Lobby

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‘Amai  Mo ‘Am Ṣo:ṣon G Cewagĭ, ‘I:da ha’icu cipkana mat ‘am ‘i-ṣo:ṣon 2018, ‘mat ‘idam Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O’odham), kc Gareth Smit, kc Martín Zícari ‘am ‘i-e-we:mt k ‘am hab ju:, ‘ats ‘am ‘ep o ‘e-ku:pio k ‘am ‘ep o ‘e-ce:g April 6, 2024, ‘amai  University of Arizona Poetry Center kc ‘am ‘ep Center for Creative Photography’s Alice Chaiten Baker Interdisciplinary Gallery.  ‘I:da ‘at wuḍ o hetasp ce:gida mat ‘am hab o ‘e-ju:.

‘I:da cipkana ‘o g pipigculta ‘am ‘e-ce:gidas mat ‘am hab ‘e-ju: ha-we:m g Traditional O’odham Leaders (TOL) kc ‘idam ki:kdag Quitovac, Cu:wĭ ‘I-ge:ṣk (San Francisquito), kc Sonoyta—Ki:kdag mo ‘am hab cu:cuig Sonora, Mexico—kc ‘am ha’ap ‘ep Quitobaquito kc we:sko ‘i-we:gaj g Southern Arizona jeweḍga. ‘I:da ha’icu ce:gida ‘at g ‘o’ohona we:m ‘am ‘e-na:to kc ‘am ‘o’ohanas kc ‘am ‘ep ‘e-bei g ñi’okĭ  kaidag ‘am O’odham kc Milga:n ñi’okĭ ‘eḍ k ‘amjeḍ ‘am we:s ‘ep ‘i-e-da:mc Ju:kam ñi’okĭ ‘eḍ.  

‘Amai  Mo ‘Am Ṣo:ṣon G Cewagĭ, ‘at mu’i ha’icu na:toidag ‘ab ‘i-e-we:nad k ‘am hab ‘e-ju: kc ‘am si-ñeid g wohocuda, kc, ce:piada, kc hemu cihanig kc hekihu cihanig mo has masma ‘am hab cu’ig k has masma ‘ab ha’icu ‘e-juñhim ‘amai Milgan kc Jujkam ha-cekṣan ‘eḍ mo ‘an wawañ Sonoran Desert ‘am. 

 ‘I:da cipkana ‘o hab ‘e-elid mat ‘am gawul o ‘i-ju: mo has masma hab ‘i-e-neid hegai cekṣan hemu k ‘am o a: g  ha-a:ga kc ha-wohocuda kc ha-juñhimdag hegam mo ‘am ki: kc hegam mat ‘am ‘i-ci:pia ‘amai cekṣan oid. 

‘I:da cipkana mat hemu ‘am hab o ‘e-ju: ‘o ‘am ce:gidas mo has masma wuḍ si has ha’icu g ‘i-we:mtaḍag cipkana kc ‘am ‘ep ba’ic ‘i-himc mo has masma ‘ab ‘i-e-ñeid ‘i:da cekṣan hab ‘amjeḍ g ci:piadag kc hejel ‘e-ma:cidag k ‘ab ‘i-we:nad g ha’i ‘ep g hemajkam ha-ñi’okĭ mo has masma ‘ab ‘i-ñeid hegam ‘i:da cekṣan. ‘Idam mat g ha-ñi’okĭ ‘ab ‘i-we:nad k ‘am ba’ic ‘i-tasog mo hascu ‘am hab cem ‘elid mat we:hejid ‘am hab ‘e-ju: g, ‘Amai  Mo ‘Am Ṣo:ṣon G Cewagĭ, o wuḍ Amber Lee Ortega (Hia Ced O’odham kc Tohono O’odham), Terrol Dew Johnson (Tohono O’odham) Chris Lasch kc Alice Wilsey, Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder (Onk Akimel O’odham, Xalchidom Piipaash, Tlingit, Aleut kc Pomo), kc Monica Martínez.

Hab ha-amjeḍ ‘idam ‘o’ohona kc ha’icu na:toidag kc pipigcul ‘at g, ‘Amai  Mo ‘Am Ṣo:ṣon G Cewagĭ, ‘am si-gawul ‘i-ju: mo has masma hab ‘e-ñeid hegai cekṣan. Gamhu hab ‘i-ju: g pi ke:g cekĭtoidag kc pi ke:g ha’icu ‘a:ga mo hemu‘am si ‘e-hekaj mat hekid g ceksan ‘am o ‘e-a’agad k heg ‘am hab ju: ha-a:ga, kc ha- ñi’okĭ, kc ha-cegĭtoidag ‘ab ha-amjeḍ  hegam mo am ki: ‘amai. 

 ‘Amai  Mo ‘Am Ṣo:ṣon G Cewagĭ, ‘at hab bei g ‘i-we:mtaḍag hab ‘amjeḍ g Magnum Foundation k ha’ap s-ap ‘am hab ‘e-ju: k haba hemuc ‘ab we:nags g University of Arizona Confluence Center’s Fronteridades cipkana mat hegam hab bei g ‘i-we:mtaḍag ‘ab ‘amjeḍ g Mellon Foundation. 

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El lugar donde se forman las nubes es un proyecto colaborativo iniciado en 2018 por Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O'odham), Gareth Smit y Martín Zícari y abrirá su quinta entrega el 6 de abril de 2024, simultáneamente en el Centro de Poesía de la Universidad de Arizona y en la Galería Interdisciplinaria Alice Chaitén Baker del Centro para la Fotografía Creativa. El proyecto presenta fotografías realizadas en colaboración con los Líderes Tradicionales O'odham y comunidades de los pueblos de Quitovac, Cu:wĭ I-ge:sk (San Francisquito) y Sonoyta—pueblos ubicados en Sonora, México—así como Quitobaquito y las tierras circundante en el sur de Arizona. Imágenes y esculturas conversan con poemas escritos y grabados en o’odham e inglés y traducidos al español.

El lugar donde se forman las nubes es un colectivo interdisciplinario artístico que examina la intersección de la espiritualidad, la migración y las políticas actuales e históricas que han impactado las zonas fronterizas del desierto de Sonora. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo reorientar las narrativas de este lugar fuera de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México y las preocupaciones geopolíticas hacia las historias genealógicas y las tradiciones religiosas y culturales de quienes viven y han migrado aquí.

Esta iteración del proyecto explora la importancia del trabajo colaborativo e incorpora más perspectivas sobre la migración y la identidad a través de nuevos colaboradores cuya práctica amplía de manera crítica el alcance de los temas en El lugar donde se forman las nubes. Entre los poetas, fotógrafos y artistas que colaboran se encuentran Amber Lee Ortega (Hia Ced O'odham y Tohono O'odham), Terrol Dew Johnson (Tohono O'odham), Chris Lasch y Alice Wilsey, Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder (Onk Akimel O 'odham, Xalchidom Piipaash, Tlingit, Aleut y Pomo), y Mónica Martínez. A través de palabras, objetos e imágenes, El lugar donde se forman las nubes altera las narrativas de “crisis” fronteriza, reemplazando los mitos del estado-nación con narrativas sobre las experiencias vividas por las comunidades fronterizas.

El lugar donde se forman las nubes comenzó con una subvención de la Fundación Magnum. Actualmente forma parte del proyecto Fronteridades del Centro de Confluencia de la Universidad de Arizona, que es posible gracias a una subvención de la Fundación Mellon.

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The Place Where Clouds Are Formed, a collaborative project initiated in 2018 by Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O’odham), Gareth Smit, and Martín Zícari will open its fifth installment on April 6, 2024, simultaneously at the University of Arizona Poetry Center and the Center for Creative Photography’s Alice Chaiten Baker Interdisciplinary Gallery. The project features photography made in partnership with the Traditional O’odham Leaders (TOL) and communities from villages in Quitovac, Cu:wĭ I-ge:sk (San Francisquito), and Sonoyta—towns located in Sonora, Mexico—as well as Quitobaquito and the surrounding lands in Southern Arizona. Images and sculptures are in conversation with poems written and recorded in O’odham and English and translated into Spanish. 

The Place Where Clouds Are Formed is an interdisciplinary arts collective that examines the intersection of spirituality, migration, and current and historical policies that have impacted the borderlands of the Sonoran Desert. This work aims to reorient narratives of this place away from the U.S.–Mexico border and geopolitical concerns and towards the genealogical stories and religious and cultural traditions of those who live and migrate here. 

This iteration of the project explores the significance of collaborative work and incorporates further perspectives on migration and identity via new collaborators whose practice critically expands the purview of themes in The Place Where Clouds are Formed. Collaborating poets, photographers, and artists include Amber Lee Ortega (Hia Ced O’odham and Tohono O’odham), Terrol Dew Johnson (Tohono O’odham), Chris Lasch, Alice Wilsey, Su:k Chu:vak Fulwilder (Onk Akimel O'odham, Xalchidom Piipaash, Tlingit, Aleut and Pomo), and Monica Martínez. Through word, object, and image, The Place Where Clouds Are Formed disrupts “crisis” narratives of the border, replacing myths of the nation-state with narratives about the lived experiences of borderland communities. 

The Place Where Clouds are Formed began with grant support from the Magnum Foundation. It is currently part of the University of Arizona Confluencenter’s Fronteridades project, which is made possible through a grant from the Mellon Foundation. 

Step into the captivating world of Contemporary Korean society, where tradition meets rapid modernization and Western influence. Wonders and Witness: Contemporary Photography from Korea is an exhibition that invites you to explore the diverse facets of Korean life-- its desires, anxieties, frustrations, and mysteries. It delves into pressing issues such as urbanization, the intricacies of family dynamics, the search for identity, and the enduring hope for a brighter future.

These photographs act as more than just witnesses to societal conditions; they are artistic commentaries that offer a unique interpretation of our everyday lives. Prepare to be enthralled by the wonders that surround us in the ordinary, as captured through the lens of Contemporary Korean photographers. 

Wonders and Witness: Contemporary Photography from Korea presents more than 80 works of 12 Korean photographers, including  including Bang Byoungsang, Chung Chuha, Gwon Doyeon, Kim Mi-Hyun, Kim Oksun, Kim Seunggu, Kim Taedong, Nikki S. Lee, Lee Sunmin, Oh Heinkuhn, Area Park, and Yoon JeongMee. The exhibition will accompany a symposium on photography in Korea and talks with artists open to the public.

Wonders and Witness: Contemporary Photography from Korea is co-organized by the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), curated by Kim Namin, Curator, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and in collaboration with the School of Art.

Image: Oh Heinkuhn, A Boy with His Ear Hurt in Front of Lucky Club, 1993, 90 x 114.5cm, MMCA collection.

In Pictures for Charis, American photographer Kelli Connell reconsiders the relationship between writer Charis (pronounced CARE-iss) Wilson and photographer Edward Weston through a close examination of Wilson’s prose and Weston’s iconic photographs. Connell weaves together the stories of Wilson and Weston with her own and enriches our understanding of the couple from her contemporary Queer and feminist perspective.

This exhibition features recent portrait and landscape photographs by Connell along with classic figure studies and landscapes by Weston from 1934–1945 one of his most productive periods and the span of his relationship with Wilson. Using Weston and Wilson publications as a guide, Connell and her partner at the time, Betsy Odom, traveled to locales where Wilson and Weston lived, made work, and spent time together creating new artworks in the process.

This exhibition is co-organized by the Center for Creative Photography; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The monograph Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis (2024) is co-published by the Center for Creative Photography and Aperture Foundation  and brings together Connell’s text, portraits of Odom, new landscape views, and original materials by both Wilson and Weston.

In 1978, Life magazine photojournalist W. Eugene Smith died at age 59 in Tucson, Arizona where he had moved the year before. He left behind a vast and rich archive of correspondence, his own research material, negatives, proof prints, and audio recordings. The Center for Creative Photography is presenting 45 of Smith’s photographs as an opportunity to think about what conditions promote interdisciplinary engagement. Drawn from five series: World War II, Nurse Midwife, Jazz Loft, Hitachi Corporation, and Minamata, Smith’s work will be presented with archival material that helps expand consideration of his practice beyond an art historical lens, connecting his photographs to other fields and disciplines.

Due to a recent unexpected mechanical issue at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP), A Life in Pictures must close earlier than planned. The final day to see the exhibition in the Alice Chaiten Baker Interdisciplinary Gallery is Saturday, February 3.   

"My images convey the spiritual and cultural values of the Chicano experience." —Louis Carlos Bernal

The Center for Creative Photography presents Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectiva, a landmark survey of one of the most significant American photographers of the twentieth century.

Born in Douglas, Arizona, and based in Tucson, Louis Carlos Bernal (1941–1993) was a pioneering Chicano photographer, among the very first to envision his work in the medium not as documentation, but as an art form. He began his career in the early 1970s in the wake of the Chicano civil rights movement, articulating a quietly political approach to photography with the aim of heralding the strength, spiritual and cultural values, and profound family ties that marked the lives of Mexican Americans who were marginalized and little seen.

Initially focusing on the people of modest means he encountered in the barrios of Tucson, the city where he lived and taught, Bernal eventually traveled to small towns throughout the Southwest, where he portrayed individuals and families in outdoor settings or in their homes surrounded by belongings, tabletops filled with religious statuary and curios, and at times, rooms absent of people that nevertheless express the tenor of the lives lived within them. 

Featuring more than 140 original photographs and archival objects from the Center’s collection, the exhibition also includes examples of Bernal’s early experimental work, photographs from his trips to Mexico, the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and a selection of never-seen images he produced in Cuba. A companion book, Louis Carlos Bernal: Monografía, is co-published by Aperture and the Center for Creative Photography.

Louis Carlos Bernal: Retrospectiva is curated by Elizabeth Ferrer and organized by the Center for Creative Photography.

 Major support for the exhibition and its companion publication is provided by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.  

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Corporate sponsorship is by Bank of America.  

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This spring, CCP’s Alice Chaiten Baker Interdisciplinary Gallery will be transformed into an immersive installation where images and sounds converge. Mural-scale digital projections rotating photographs of the southwestern United States from CCP’s collection hypnotically tangle with a chance array of music and sound. The installation means to expand how photography can engage, illuminate, entrance, and influence our understanding of place, of sound, of our bodies.

8-Track will also be stage to a curated schedule of live, in-gallery performances by regional musicians, commissioned to perform work inspired by CCP’s collection of photography. See the performance calendar below for dates and times. 75- tickets for these unique image+sound experiences will be first-come, first-serve when doors open at 5:15pm. Performances begin at 5:30pm.

The spring performances are co-organized by Arizona Arts Live and the Center for Creative Photography. Read more about each of the musicians by following this link.

Spring 2023 In-Gallery Performance Schedule:

Track 1. Brian Lopez: Wednesday, March 01, 5:30pm

Track 2. Fred Huang: Wednesday, March 15, 5:30pm

Track 3. Karima Walker: Wednesday, March 29, 5:30pm

Track 4. New Misphoria: Wednesday, April 12, 5:30pm

Track 5. Ryan Green: Wednesday, April 26, 5:30pm

Track 6. Jillian Besset: Wednesday, May 10, 5:30pm

Track 7. Mo la Flo: Wednesday, May 24, 5:30pm

Track 8. Nicandro Guereque: Wednesday, June 07, 5:30pm

Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression examines the role of photography in shaping, sharing, and shifting identity.

Whether for a selfie or formal portrait, we all craft our appearance and identity for a public audience.  We consider cultural and social norms, the emotions we wish to express or hide away, where we’re going and with whom, and the purpose of the photograph when choosing how we dress, adorn, and present ourselves. The resulting images serve as a window into a particular moment of our life, with intimate details that alert viewers to who we are, as filtered through the photographic medium.

Organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography (CCP), Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression features 54 works of street, documentary, and self-portrait photography from 1912 to 2015 that explore this long-intertwined relationship between fashion as a tool for self-expression and photography’s role in chronicling it. Iconic views by Dennis Feldman, Laura Volkerding, Linda Rich, John Simmons, David Hume Kennerly, Teenie Harris, and more illuminate the dialogue that occurs between photographer and subject—the give-and-take between self-performance and art making.

Alongside these works drawn from CCP’s outstanding collection, Fashioning Self also features a rotating display of social media images reflecting community members and individuals from across the United States. Throughout the duration of the exhibition, the Museum and CCP will invite visitors, Arizona residents, and our collective social media followings to take their own selfies and portraits in the galleries or in their environments and share them via the hashtag #FashioningSelf for display in Norton Gallery. By placing these contemporary, real-time images in conversation with works by renowned photographers of the Americas, the exhibition interrogates what it means to be an artist or maker in a world where cameras are commonplace and everyone curates a feed.

Fashioning Self: The Photography of Everyday Expression is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. It is made possible through the generosity of the John R. and Doris Norton Center for Creative Photography Endowment Fund, with additional support from the Museum’s Circles of Support and Museum Members.