By Sydney Ritter | Happenings & Events
Scottsdale Public Art’s newest exhibition, “Photography in Translation,” running through Sept. 30, at Scottsdale Civic Center Library, features artists and photographers who are navigating what it means to live in the United States of America, with family and traditions originating outside the country.
This exhibition is a first for Wendy Raisanen, curator of collections and exhibitions for Scottsdale Public Art, a department of the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts.
Though Ms. Raisanen has curated dozens of exhibitions at the library through the years, she had not curated a dedicated photography exhibition until now.
This also is not a typical photography exhibition. These photographs attempt to translate their creators’ inner voices to communicate with contemporary society through thoughtful imagery, utilizing unconventional techniques and presentations that address language and the self, translation, identity and portraiture.
“Curating a photography show is nothing like I expected it to be,” Ms. Raisanen said.
“It has exposed me to so many ways a person can take a photograph or make a photograph. There are images on glass and photos on corn husks; there’s camera-less photography. We’ll show the classic black and white images and video too. I think the variety will surprise people because it surprised me.”
“Photography in Translation” is co-curated by Claire A. Warden, an interdisciplinary artist who works in still and moving image media.
“Each artist in this exhibition uses photography to address translation, language and social/institutional structure, and (in)visibility,” Ms. Warden said. “There is great power in the illegible or opaque photograph for artists of color in a world that creates conditions of being hyperseen.”
