Moving Pictures

Forget shopping and spend time with impressive art

Comments (0) By Tricia Parker Thursday, Sep 17 2009

You know what’s really lacking during the post-holiday rush? Face time. However, it makes sense why there’s a shortage of such things right now. Meeting your colleagues’ glances after that out-of-control office party can be, well, awkward.

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There shouldn’t be any uncomfortable human interactions at the Phoenix Art Museum, which is a perfect opportunity to see “Face to Face: 150 Years of Photographic Portraiture.” The show features portraits by 58 behind-the-lens rock stars such as Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Richard Avedon, and Ansel Adams.

Examining early daguerreotypes alongside photographs taken in the past few years don’t really seem to be the points of the exhibition. Rather, viewers are invited to confront, compare, and contrast the intimacy and narrative revealed in portraiture -- it’s about the power of subject and presence. To this end, don’t miss the different portraits of Alfred Stieglitz as well as works by Edward Curtis and Victor Masayesva, Jr.

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Sept. 19. Continues through Jan. 10, 2009