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 Museum’s Circles of Support and Museum Members.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
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.
Dennis Feldman, Man with Reflective Glasses, 1969-1972. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Gift of the artist. © Dennis Feldman.
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.
IMAGE CREDIT
Louis Carlos Bernal, Albert y Lynn Morales, Silver City, New Mexico, 1978. Chromogenic print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Gift of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. © Lisa Bernal Brethour and Katrina Berna.
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.
IMAGE CREDIT
Roger Minick, Young Woman in Black with Pendant, Estrada Courts, Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, 1978. Gelatin silver print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Gift of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. © Roger Minick 1978.
Kozo Miyoshi, Tucson, Arizona, 1992. Gelatin silver print. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona: Gift of the artist, DEP’T CO.,LTD., Tokyo, Nippon Polaroid, Tsudani Oil Co. Ltd.© Kozo Miyosh.
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On view for a limited time, exhibitions present art from across the centuries and the globe, from iconic fashion to Old Master paintings, contemporary photography to historical objects of Asia.
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Featuring more than 20,000 objects, the collection spans the globe, bringing the world to our city, and our city to the world.
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