This July, nearly 100 photographs from the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography travel north to Phoenix for “Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography,” an original exhibition opening July 29 at Phoenix Art Museum.
Organized by Phoenix Art Museum and CCP, the exhibition explores how the medium shapes, transforms, and reimagines reality rather than simply recording it. “Ecstatic Time” also marks the 20th anniversary of the Norton agreement, a landmark partnership established by Mr. and Mrs. John R. Norton that has brought CCP works to Phoenix audiences for two decades.
Curated from the Vault
The exhibition was devised by Emilia Mickevicius, Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography at Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. Mickevicius began building its foundation informally — maintaining a running database of objects that startled or delighted her during visits to the CCP storage vault.
“Every time I came across a particularly striking picture that startled or delighted me in some way, I’d add it to the group,” Mickevicius said. “Eventually it dawned on me: what if this was the basis for an entire show? Rather than offering a chronological survey of the medium, the resulting exhibition invites viewers to encounter an unusual group of photographs that delight, puzzle and disrupt our sense of time and perception.”
Photography Beyond the Literal
The exhibition takes its title from film theorist Hollis Frampton, who proposed that photographs give viewers access to “ecstatic time” — an experience distinct from historical or clock time. Derived from the Ancient Greek ékstasis, meaning “to stand outside oneself,” the concept reflects how photographs suspend their subjects from the continuous flow of lived experience, inviting closer and deeper looking.
Rather than offering a chronological survey, “Ecstatic Time” presents photographs spanning nearly the entire history of the medium — from 19th-century prints to contemporary conceptual works — with particular emphasis on early 20th-century experimentation. Still lifes, flash photography, time-lapse imagery, and astronomical photographs appear alongside works that capture phenomena invisible to the naked eye.
Four Thematic Sections
The exhibition is organized into four thematic groupings, each approaching photography’s relationship to time and perception from a different angle:
- Awake and Dreaming brings together surreal and enigmatic 20th-century images that orient viewers to the transformative nature of camera vision — including techniques like flash photography that freeze moments in time. Artists featured here include Ilse Bing, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Kozo Miyoshi, and Garry Winogrand.
- The Thing Itself presents a sprawling wall of still lifes that amplify the presence of their subjects, evoking a cabinet of curiosities. Works by Harold Edgerton, Edward Weston, Masahisa Fukase, and Abelardo Morell are among those on view.
- Out of this World features astronomical imagery — solar eclipses, including one captured by Ansel Adams — and an image recorded by NASA’s Mars Pathfinder rover, underscoring how photography has extended human vision to places and phenomena beyond everyday sight.
- Incisions in History / Segments of Eternity presents works that forge reverberations between past and present, including conceptual work by Hiroshi Sugimoto and Lew Thomas examining photography’s relationship to time, alongside a suite of 19th-century images that look back at earlier eras.
“These pictures encourage us to slow down, look closely and experience photography not just as a transparent record of the world, but as a medium capable of wonder, imagination, and experimentation,” said Mickevicius.
A Partnership Built to Last
For CCP Director Todd Tubutis, the exhibition reflects the ongoing value of the Norton agreement as a model for extending the Center’s reach beyond its Tucson campus.
“The Center for Creative Photography’s partnership with Phoenix Art Museum is an innovative model for collection sharing, one that allows the CCP to fulfill its mission by engaging audiences beyond our location on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson,” Tubutis said. “We are delighted to celebrate 20 years of a wonderful institutional collaboration with the opening of Ecstatic Time, and look forward to many more engaging photography exhibitions in the Norton Gallery for years to come.”
Jeremy Mikolajczak, the Museum’s Sybil Harrington Director and CEO and coordinating curator of the Phoenix presentation, echoed that sentiment: “This enduring collaboration has allowed our institutions to bring extraordinary works from the CCP collection to our community while advancing a deeper understanding of photography as an evolving, experimental, and transformative medium.”
About the Exhibition
“Ecstatic Time: The Alchemy of Photography” is co-organized by Phoenix Art Museum and the Center for Creative Photography. All exhibitions at Phoenix Art Museum are underwritten by the Phoenix Art Museum ‘Exhibition Excellence Fund,’ found by The Opatrny Family Foundation with additional support provided by Joan Cremin.
Admission is free for museum members and youth aged five and younger. Entrance into the exhibition is included in general admission for the public. Visitors may also enjoy reduced admission to the exhibition during voluntary-donation times on Wednesdays (3-8p), made possible by SRP and City of Phoenix. Find general admission prices and hours, see phxart.org/visit.