Center for Creative Photography curator links past, present

Joshua Chuang was supposed to be a doctor. But a basic drawing class changed everything.

“It ended up being the hardest class of the semester,” said Chuang of that Dartmouth College class. “But, it unlocked something inside of me.”

He switched his undergraduate degree from physics to art history. Then, to studio art with an emphasis in photography.

Chuang’s parents, who had emigrated from Taiwan, had doubts about whether it was the right move for their son. His father was an engineer and they discovered early on that Chuang had a knack for science.

“They were worried, of course, like any parents that care about their kids,” said the New Jersey-raised Chuang. “They thought I was kind of throwing away the education that they saved their entire lives for.”

But 16 years later, it’s a decision that’s paid off for Chuang and his family.

In January, he will mark his two-year anniversary as chief curator for the Center for Creative Photography, and is co-curating the center’s current exhibit, “The Lives of Pictures,” which celebrates the center’s 40th anniversary. It runs through May 14.

The center, founded 40 years ago by photographer Ansel Adams and John Schaefer, who was then University of Arizona president, is considered one of the world’s finest photography museums. Many of the 20th century’s most important photographers are represented in the collection of more than 90,000 works.

The Journey

Chuang finished his art history degree at Dartmouth and spent the eight years after that trying to make it as a photographer. His big break came when the New York Times reviewed his work titled “On the Path of Reconciliation.”

It was an exhibition that illustrated the internal struggle for identity in the lives of second-generation Chinese-Americans. The exhibit included photos of places that shaped and inspired Chuang, including New York City’s Canal Street and Chinatown.

This would be the first and last show of his work. Chuang decided to go in a different direction and enrolled in Yale University’s MBA program. He hoped to link his artistic background with his business knowledge, leading to in a career in museum management.

He volunteered at the Yale University Art Gallery and was an intern before becoming the museum’s first dedicated curator of photography in 2007.

After years of living on the East Coast and nearly a decade at Yale, Chuang decided to move to Tucson to start his own family.

“It was always a place that I wanted to go to because of the beautiful weather and low cost of living,” said Chuang, married and the father of a 14-month-old.

“Everything has been unexpected,” he said. “There was no plan.”

A fresh perspective

Since joining the CCP, Chuang, who is still getting to know the center’s massive collection, has mounted two other exhibitions — one about photography and astronomy, and another on contemporary photography.

“He’s accomplished so much in such a small amount of time,” said Rebecca Senf, also a member of the curatorial staff. “He’s such an innovative, ambitious, and creative thinker. Each of his exhibitions are so different from the next.”

In his “Astronomical” exhibition, Chuang collaborated with different departments on campus and private collectors to borrow works that detailed the technology of astronomical photography, including the UA’s Special Collections library and the Space Imagery Center.

Through the use of space, planet, and star-field photos, along with a video showing the real time of solar flares on the surface of the sun, he created a narrative about how photography and astronomy moved forward in tandem.

In another exhibition, Chuang took the work of three young, contemporary photographers and showcased it alongside 20th century photos from the center’s collection. It was an effort to create a dialogue between historical and contemporary photography.

“I don’t want to tell people, this is how it is. This is how you should think,” said Chuang. “I really think of my exhibitions as propositions. Here’s what I know, but there’s probably more than one way to think about this. Let’s think about this together.”

The center’s current exhibit, “Lives of Pictures,” features photographs and archival materials from its collection, including the influential works of Ansel Adams and Harold Jones, who was also the center’s first director.

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Archivists, photographers and others from the center’s past helped select the works in the show. They also wrote the wall text. Included in the gallery are journal entries and blueprints from photographers.

“You get to really see their thoughts and processes,” said Chuang. “We want to show our public a slightly different view of the collection they think they know.”

For example, Adams’ photos of a church in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico has long been hotly debated.

The story goes that Adams was on a vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico when he spotted the adobe, Spanish missionary-style church. Some believe Adams took the pictures on a whim. Others say Adams had everything planned, needing the permission of the Taos Indians before he photographed the church.

The exhibition seems to confirm the latter. Documents show that Adams detailed a plan months in advance. He took some initial photos in different angles and lighting before he took the 12 photos that would later be published in his photo book, “Taos Pueblo.”

Viewers will also get to see works never before displayed, such as Jones’ reprint of “Ground.” It’s a photo of a Tucson dirt road taken in 1978, but the one shown in the gallery has a slight twist.

Jones enlarged the photo and mounted it to linen. Then he laid it out on a road and for two days while cars drove over the piece. He left the picture — now embedded with real tire tracks — in Chuang’s office as a gift.

A tour with the curator

On a recent tour, Chuang glides through the all-white, three-roomed gallery. When he stops to talk about a particular photo, his voice is noticeably higher and faster.

“This one. Look at this. This solidified my dedication to photography,” said Chuang, pointing to a photograph of a tree in a field. It’s a 1978 Emmet Gowin piece taken in Siena, Italy.

“This is a man who’s found a way to articulate the world in an accurate way but also to have a personal vision.”

But Chuang is hesitant to say it’s his favorite photo.

“In a way, these photos are kind of like my children,” said Chuang. “I can’t pick a favorite even if I wanted to.”

Chuang stops at a black-and-white picture full of different shapes and lights. It’s a Lew Thomas piece titled “Light on the Floor,” created in 1972. While Thomas was at the dentist, he asked his friend to take pictures of how light projects through the window.

“Some pictures make me see the world in a different way and I can never see the world the same way after that moment,” said Chuang.

“It has a wonderful implication of place, time, light, how all those things conflate together into making this visual work of art. Is it art? Can he even take credit for it when he didn’t even take the photos?”

When he’s not in Tucson, Chuang travels to other museums to study different curators and look at new works of art.

“It’s a full-time job, but I love it,” said Chuang. “No two days are the same.”

Senf says Chuang’s passion for photography is undeniable.

“We’re always talking about new ways to advance the medium,” she said. “I’m having trouble even thinking of a time when we’re not talking about photography.”

Goals and ambitions

While he’s only been here for a short amount of time, Chuang has some big plans for the CCP.

He would like to add fellowships to the eight that already exist, attract a wider variety of audiences from all over the world, develop partnerships with other museums here and abroad, and increase the diversity of the center’s collection.

“Five years from now,” he said, “I hope to be five years wiser.”