San Diego’s Photo Gem

Although San Diego is less than three hours south of where I live, I visit there less than I would have imagined, mostly for lack of reasons to do so.

However, a recent invitation to visit the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) in Balboa Park in San Diego introduced me to a gem I had not appreciated before.

First, a few words about the Museum. The Museum grew out of a local group of photography enthusiasts who, beginning in 1972, operated the Center for Photography, a museum without walls. In 1983, MOPA opened in space donated by the City of San Diego. MOPA’s permanent collection consists of more than 9,000 photos and historical objects as well as over 22,000 items held within the Edmund K. and Nancy J Dubois Library spanning the history of photography and including materials related to the history of photography and its various image-making processes.

The evening I visited, two new shows opened, by Nick Brandt and Jed Fielding, as well as an installation from the permanent collection of works donated by late MOPA board member Dr. Larry Freidman.

Nick Brandt: This Empty World (on exhibit until October 7) is an impressive installation of work meant to raise awareness of environmental degradation and its impact. Brandt is an English photographer, a graduate of St, Martin’s School of Art, who began his career as a successful music video director for such artists as Michael Jackson, Jewel, Moby and XTC.

While in East Africa, Brandt was struck by the vanishing beauty of the animals and the natural landscape, threatened by human encroachment, environmental destruction, and climate change. Brandt turned to photography to express our human connection to the animal realm and the natural environment, and how the degradation of one impacts the other, as well as a way for Brandt to express his strong feelings on the subject.

“People still think the major issue with the destruction of wildlife in Africa is poaching, but especially in East Africa it’s no longer the biggest problem,” Brandt said. “The biggest problem is the population explosion that is happening. With that comes an invasion of humanity and development into what was not so long ago wildlife habitat.”

Brandt’s large format images (60 X 130 inches) are conceptual works staged by Brandt that are each a major undertaking. Locations are scouted that reflect where both animal life existed and where humans now encroach. The area to be photographed is made ready for the animals who are led there in an organic fashion. Brandt allows them to become acclimated to the terrain and then shoots images of them there. The animals depart and the workers or individuals return. Brandt photographs them and then photo-composites are made that address, in Brandt’s words, “the escalating destruction of the African natural world at the hands of humans, showing a world where, overwhelmed by runaway development, there is no longer space for animals to survive. The people in the photos also often helplessly swept along by the relentless tide of ‘progress.’”

The scale of Brandt’s work and the surreal juxtaposition of wild animals such as elephants, tigers or giraffes, and humans in industrial looking locations make seeing Brandt’s work memorable – and very much make the argument for restoring the balance between humans, the natural world, and the animal realm. However, the staged nature of the photographs, for me, detracted from their impact as works of art even as they remain compelling statements of advocacy.

By contrast, Encounter: Photographs by Jed Fielding (on view through September 25, 2022) showcases the work of Fielding, a street photographer who has spent more than 40 years photographing the people of Naples, on black and white film (digitally printed but he makes no digital alterations to the images). Fielding, who was also present at MOPA, explained he always asks for permission to photograph someone, and he sometimes poses them to capture the kinetic quality of their presence. However, what he snaps is what we see. And what we see is a deeply empathetic portrait of humanity.

“I want visitors to leave feeling differently than they felt when they walked into the exhibition,” Fielding said. “I’d like the viewers to feel that this is a new type of encounter for them. I hope that they will leave thinking that they’ve not seen photographs quite like this before.”

Last, but in no way least, Legacy: Larry Friedman Collection (on view through September 11, 2022) exhibits highlights from the collection that the late Dr. Friedman bequeathed to the Museum, consisting of works of contemporary photography that, as MOPA’s website says, “challenged the notion of what photography can be.” This includes works by Michael Kenna, such as Seaweed Farms (2010) which look more like a Van Gogh drawing than a photograph and works by David Maisel that could easily be seen as looking like a Richard Diebenkorn print.

Turns out MOPA is even more special than I imagined. Independent museums solely devoted to Photography are rarities. There are only a few in the US; and in June 2020 The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles closed permanently. MOPA reminded me of the myriad ways this “lens-based medium,” whether journalistic and realistic, or abstract and artistic, can educated, inform, challenge, and lift our spirits as an expression of the vision of those who see the images of our world.