Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Spanning the medium’s history, Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography explores how photography transforms how we see and reshapes our understanding of time, perception, and reality.

While photographs are often associated with human vision, they also have the power to reveal, transform, and defamiliarize their subjects.

Header: Edward Henry Weston, MGM Studios (detail), 1939. Gelatin silver print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Edward Weston Archive, 81.251.128. © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Harold Edgerton, Splash of a Milk Drop, ca. 1938, negative 1938; printed 1977. Dye transfer print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Purchase, 78.189.8. © Harold Edgerton, MIT, courtesy of Palm Press Inc.

Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography celebrates the 20-year anniversary of the landmark Norton agreement between Phoenix Art Museum and the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography (CCP) in Tucson with a presentation of nearly 100 objects from the CCP’s collection, including unexpected treasures by canonical figures, captivating examples of process experimentation and images distinguished by puzzling or playful subject matter, demonstrating the breadth and inventiveness of creative photography.

Harold Edgerton, Bullet through Banana, 1964. Dye transfer print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Gift of The Harold and Esther Edgerton Family Foundation, 96.71.5. © Harold Edgerton, MIT, courtesy of Palm Press Inc.

Spanning nearly the full history of the medium from the 1860s to the present, Ecstatic Time places particular emphasis on early 20th-century works, with a focus on quirky and whimsical still lifes. Through four thematic sections, it examines photography’s complex relationship to time and vision through examples of flash photography, time-lapse imagery and astronomical photographs, and contemporary conceptual work. Collectively, the works evoke a cabinet of curiosities, underscoring photography’s capacity for visual alchemy and experimentation.

Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP #340 (SF Bay Bridge), 2009. Gelatin silver print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Purchase, 2011.5.1. © 2009 Chris McCaw

Kikuji Kawada, New Couple Who Closed Their Eyes, Tokyo, 1974. Gelatin silver print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Purchase, with matching funds from Hitachi America, Ltd., 90.11.2. © Kikuji Kawada