The Linda McCartney Retrospective

Organizer: Center for Creative Photography

Venue: Center for Creative Photography

Start Time: 10:00am

Non Event Dates: Closed every Monday and Sunday

Curated by members of the photographer’s family, ‘The Linda McCartney Retrospective’ exhibition has its North American debut at the Center for Creative Photography and covers Linda McCartney’s career, 1965-1997.

>> Center for Creative Photography
>> CCP to host Linda McCartney exhibition announcement

Featuring 176 photographs and additional archival materials that offer insight into her working methods, the exhibition is presented in three sections: Family, Photographic Experimentation, and Artists. Family features poignant and direct accounts of her life as mother, wife, and animal activist. Having moved to London with her new husband Paul in 1969, Linda documented her extraordinary version of domestic life, and these self-portraits, slices from life, and portraits of her husband, children, and beloved animal companions provide powerful access to her particular perspective.

Throughout her photographic career, McCartney “sketched” by taking Polaroid images, experimented with various photographic processes, explored color and black-and-white film, and partnered with artistic collaborators. The Photographic Experimentation section includes several artworks that are unique to the CCP version of the exhibition. In the third section, Artists, we see McCartney’s early portraits of the dynamic 1960s music scene which capture the vulnerability of future world-conquering rock stars.

McCartney was the first woman photographer to have an image featured on the cover of Rolling Stone; her unparalleled access to The Beatles – the biggest band in the world at that time – allowed her to chronicle the members and their behind-the-scenes; and her own role as a founding member of Wings gave her yet another point of view on musical stardom. The range of works in the exhibition, including never-before-seen Tucson views, reflect the spontaneity and ease of her photographic style.

Free Community Day // Feb. 25

Doors open at CCP at 10a for a day of engaging activities inspired by the Center and the exhibitions. Visitors can create their own Linda McCartney-inspired cyanotypes, exchange their favorite recipes in the “Take a recipe, leave a recipe” table, or chat with vegan advocates Gissel Guzman and Hannah Hernandez about plant-based eating.

At noon, Sarah Brown, Linda McCartney Archives’ photographic curator, will speak on McCartney’s life and legacy in the Forum at Health Sciences Innovation Building. Followed by a Q&A moderated by Dr. Rebecca Senf, Chief Curator, Center for Creative Photography.

Hazel Larsen Archer

Sessions on Creative Photography is one comprehensive look at the boundary-breaking career of Hazel Larsen Archer, from her instrumental work in photography within mid-century avant-garde art circles to her transformative approach to photo education. Archer embraced experimentation; challenged expectations and encouraged a radical depth of seeing; and was concerned both with photography and the experience of life itself. Linda McCartney, a prominent student of Archer’s in Tucson in the early 1960s, reflected, “She inspired me to become a photographer.”

CCP Community Tables

Inspired by Linda McCartney’s plant-based movement and Mary McCartney’s contemporary project “Mary McCartney Serves It Up!,” CCP will bring our community together for creative experiences and meaningful connections through food, photographs, and conversation with a monthly community table with photographers, chefs, and other local nonprofit leaders. Topics will center on building together a greener, more sustainable and united community through food + photography.

Saturday, Feb, 25: 10a – 4:30p @ Center for Creative Photography, Tucson
Saturday, March 25: 8a – 1p @ Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market, Phoenix
Saturday, April 22: 9a – 1p @ Children’s Museum Tucson, Tucson
Saturday, May 6: TBD @ El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, Tucson
Sunday, June 4: 8a – Noon @ Heirloom Farmer’s Market at Rillito Park, Tucson

CCP Lecture Series

This spring, the Center for Creative Photography will present an exciting series of conversations inspired by Linda McCartney’s work as both a photographer and an activist. Through lectures and panels with artists, curators, and entrepreneurs, the aim is to nurture meaningful discussions on pressing historical, cultural, and environmental issues globally through the lens of photography.

Lecture by Sarah Brown, photographic curator of the Linda McCartney Archive, in conversation with CCP Chief Curator, Dr. Rebecca Senf.
>> Saturday, Feb. 25, noon @ the Health Sciences Innovation Building Forum.
Daniella Zalcman & Verónica Sanchis Bencomo in Conversation, moderated by CCP Curator of Interdisciplinary & Community Practices, Dr. Meg Jackson Fox. Meet photographers Zalcman, founder of Women Photograph and Bencomo, founder of Foto Féminas.
>> Thursday, March 30, 5:30p @ the CCP Auditorium.
Screening & Lecture with Dr. Sarah K. Khan, author, photographer, multi-media maker, and producer of Migrant Kitchens.
>> Thursday, April 27, 5:30p @ the CCP Auditorium.

8-Track

Opening with the backdrop of “The Linda McCartney Retrospective,” 8-Track reflects the spirit of Tucson, McCartney’s photography and her love for music. The installation features eight live performances by eight local musicians each of whom have written an original song inspired by one of 250 archived images of the Southwest. These new, original songs will premiere during each artist’s set, scheduled every two weeks throughout the spring at CCP, beginning on March 1. All performances begin at 5:30p.