Strange But True: The Arizona Photographs of Allen Dutton

Since the 1970s, Allen Dutton has been using 8x10-inch and 11x14-inch cameras to systematically photograph the state of Arizona, from desert to mountain, from suburb to city. Dutton often pairs historic images of the state with his own pictures: traveling to the same locations from which early 20th-century photographers had captured their views, he makes new photographs as close as possible in angle, perspective, and orientation. He has also re-photographed his own images, returning to locations and making new pictures over a period of years to demonstrate how the landscape has changed. These visual juxtapositions of past and present yield surprising revelations about the effects of development and "progress." Comprising thousands of images taken over almost two decades, Dutton's project offers a poignant chronicle of the evolving and growing American West and our changing attitudes toward the natural world. This book documents an exhibition of this immense and breathtaking project at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C--Dutton's first-ever solo exhibition at a major museum.