July 23rd, 2025
Scottsdale Public Art’s newest exhibition, “Photography in Translation,” running July 24 through Sept. 30, 2025, 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.
CAPTION: “Half” by Claire A. Warden is among the artworks featured in the ”Photography in Translation” exhibition, which opens July 24 at the Civic Center Public Gallery inside Scottsdale Civic Center Library.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Scottsdale Public Art’s newest exhibition, “Photography in Translation,” running July 24 through Sept. 30, 2025, 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 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,” 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. Her work engages and challenges representation, portraiture, racialized experience and language in the United States through abstraction and experimental image-making in multi-year projects.
“Each artist in this exhibition uses photography to address translation, language and social/institutional structure, and (in)visibility,” 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.”
“Photography in Translation” will run from July 24 through Sept. 30 at the Civic Center Public Gallery, located inside Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3948 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. In addition to the exhibition itself, there will be a closing reception to meet Warden and other artists from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2025, at the gallery.
Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation has also organized a creative workshop in association with this exhibition. On Thursday, Sept. 25, at 5 p.m., guests can explore the magic of cyanotype printing. Using UV-sensitive paper, found objects and a UV flashlight, participants will create a one-of-a-kind indoor “sun print” to take home. The workshop is free. Visitors can drop in at any time during the event; no registration will be required.
Learn more about the exhibition at ScottsdalePublicArt.org/exhibitions, and get details on the workshop at ScottsdalePublicArt.org/events.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sydney Ritter | SydneyR@ScottsdaleArts.org | 480-874-4663