More than just photography, the Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) seeks to inspire and empower audiences by promoting critical thought and cultivating the meaningful exchange of ideas. One of only three museums in the nation dedicated solely to lens-based medium, they serve over 100,000 visitors annually. By teaching visual literacy through programs designed to engage and inspire audiences of all ages, MOPA expands their participants’ abilities to see, discuss and create images with a critical perspective. They offer an annual calendar of relevant, thought-provoking and engaging exhibitions, film festivals and lifespan-learning opportunities.
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
Legacy: Larry Friedman Collection
The collection of photographs that Dr. Larry Friedman put together reflects an emotional and intimate approach. He collected work that resonated with him, that spoke to him in a profound way.
He was a fearless collector interested in contemporary work that challenged the notion of what photography can be. The images shown in Legacy: Larry Friedman Collection represent a range of processes like the artfully crafted Photoshop work of Dutch artist Ruud van Empel or the platinum/palladium imagery of Japanese artist Takeshi Shikama.
The exhibition runs: April 16, 2022 – September 11, 2022
Admission is pay what you wish.
Encounter: Photographs by Jed Fielding
Jed Fielding’s in-your-face street portraiture will take you right into his subjects’ vivid lives. Getting in close range, his portraits allows us to feel these intimate interactions, moving beyond traditional photojournalism into personal encounters. His curious subjects reach for each other and for the photographer, too — at times it might feel like they’re reaching for us as well.
In this exhibition, MOPA visitors will see early works by Fielding, in addition to sections focused on his work in Naples, Italy and with blind students in Mexico City.
A publication will accompany the exhibition and be available for sale through MOPA’s store.
The exhibition runs: February 12 – September 25, 2022
Admission is pay what you wish.
Nick Brandt: This Empty World
Anchored by the creative devices that have become characteristic of Nick Brandt’s powerful and penetrating artistic style, This Empty World envisions a world overwhelmed by development, where there is no longer space for animals to survive. Brandt aims to highlight the vulnerabilities of both animals and poor rural people, the primary casualties in the environmental degradation that comes with the short economic gain of out-of-control development.
In the last century an enormous percentage of the world’s flora and fauna have vanished. Considering biodiversity is nature’s own deterrent to extinction, this reduction leaves our environment increasingly vulnerable. This traveling exhibition of 31 large scale photographs by Brandt, conveys the need to address man’s role in the escalating environmental and ecological destruction of the natural world.
Nick Brandt: This Empty World is made possible with generous financial support provided by the Gardner Bilingual Fund.
Additional financial support is provided by the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego.
Organized by Curatorial Exhibitions
Generously supported by Stanley L. Baty and Kristine Baty.
The exhibition runs: May 08, 2022 – Oct 02, 2022
Admission is pay what you wish.
Visit Museum of Photographic Arts
Address:
1649 El Prado, Balboa Park
San Diego , CA
92101
Phone:
(619) 238-7559
Hours:
Hours: 11 AM–4 PM Fri–Sun
Shop Hours: 12 PM–4 PM Fri–Sun
Wednesday, March 30 – Sunday, April 3 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 6 – Sunday, April 10 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Website:
1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA
