The humanity of Animality: New special exhibit at CCP puts animals at the center of the lens

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — "Animality: 100 Years of Photographs" is on display through Dec. 12 at the Center for Creative Photography museum. The exhibition draws from the institution's internationally recognized archives, which house the work of some of the most influential photographers of the past century.

The exhibition was developed through a collaboration between the museum's curatorial staff and University of Arizona students. Rather than organizing the works solely by artist or chronology, students grouped photographs into thematic clusters and wrote interpretive texts explaining the connections they saw between the images.

"As you walk around you'll see these clusters of photographs," said Valeria Villagrana, a student worker at the Center for Creative Photography. "And they'll be a paragraph written by each student, and they'll describe why they pulled these pictures together."

Museum officials say the collaborative approach is designed to encourage visitors to engage with the photographs in new ways while highlighting student voices.

The exhibition also reflects a broader effort to make the museum more welcoming to first-time visitors and those who may not see themselves as typical museumgoers.

"There's this separation between a lot of people and museums because they think that they ... don't fit in these spaces," Villagrana said. "And we kinda want to work to show them that's not true."

Visitors Terrie Sherman and Annette Cremisi said they regularly visit the Center for Creative Photography and found the latest exhibition especially compelling.

"The pictures are engaging and stunning and breathtaking," Sherman said. "And it's worth your time."

Sherman said the exhibition's focus on animals and the connections they share with people creates an uplifting experience.

"There's nothing controversial about any these pictures," she said. "They just are about acceptance, warmth, love...."

Founded in 1975, the Center for Creative Photography is home to archives from photographers including Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Harry Callahan, making it one of the world's leading institutions dedicated to the art and history of photography.

"Animality: 100 Years of Photographs" remains on view at the University of Arizona through Dec. 12.