An Exhibition of Works by 26 Arizona Photographers

Curated by MOAZA Guest Curator
Liz Allen, MFA
Curator of Photography, Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University

Gallery Talk with curator and artists, at the State Capitol: 12 Noon, Saturday, April 19

Curatorial Statement

Arizona photographers share their vision through personal stories and perspectives in this group exhibition. The images presented here represent artists from across the Grand Canyon State and at various stages of their careers. Some of them are professionals who have achieved high awards including Guggenheim Fellowships and NEA grants, while others are still students and just starting to shape their careers. The exhibition features a wide range of photographic styles from straight documentary to narrative storytelling to montage images that depict Arizona’s history to beautiful abstract renderings. The Southwest figures prominently in the history of photography drawing photographers from across the country in the late 19^th century to capture its grand landscapes and Indigenous peoples through the romanticized lens of Manifest Destiny. Today depictions of our state expand the narrative beyond the documentary style of those early views and often show us in relation to each other and where we came from. While the styles and stories presented here by these photographic artists vary widely, they represent the many lives and perspectives that contribute profoundly to our Arizona community.

Liz Allen, MFA
MOAZA Guest Curator
Curator of Photography
Northlight Gallery, ASU

Liz Allen Biography

Liz Allen has been an educator for 25 years and has served in leadership positions in the Society for Photographic Education, first as the Women’s Caucus Chair and later as the Chair of the Board of Directors. As the curator of photography at Northlight Gallery, ASU, Allen developed a dialog between established, emerging, and underrepresented artists working in a broad spectrum of photo-based media in collaboration with scholars also interested in challenging our perceptions of the human experience. The exhibitions she curates demonstrate her profound interest in understanding, interpreting, and teaching the richness of photography as an evolving medium to an expanding community.

Artists featured