Former UA Pres. has a focused vision

Arizona Daily Wildcat Summer Clouds, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, Arizona, 1977 by John P. Schaefer

John P. Schaefer has these qualities and more. His luminous prints of the Mission are only a small part of a broad and dynamic collection of photographs on display at the Tucson Museum of Art. Ranging from sensitive, often charming portraits to visual abs tracts to classic landscapes, these warm and crystal-clear prints reveal an artist of great technical skill and varied interests.

Schaefer was president of the University of Arizona for eleven years (1971-1982). Together, he and famed photographer Ansel Adams co-founded the Center for Creative Photography in 1975 on the UA campus, perhaps one of the most unique photography museums i n the world.

Schaefer began a serious pursuit of photography after moving to Tucson in 1960, where he discovered a passion-photographing the bullfights of Nogales, Sonora. He taught himself to print photographs with a $15 enlarger mounted over the bathroom sink.

True to these origins, his earlier prints (of which there are few in the show) have a gritty, snapshot feel-slightly rough around the edges and experimentally, rather than artistically, composed. By 1977 when his San Xavier Mission series began, he had fo und the focused vision of an artist. Using natural light and precise, elegant compositions, his photographs of that place have a dimensional quality than elevate them above the postcard fodder.

Schaefer also has a very sensitive eye for portraits. His warm and gentle prints are both flattering and revealing about the subjects. A series of portraits of members of the Tohono O'odham nation (a Southwestern tribe located just south of Tucson) someho w manages to emphasize the careworn, sun-etched faces of several elder citizens, yet convey a sense of strength and peace. A similar series documenting the Tarahumara nation of Mexico could have been cold, scientific documents-an anthropologist's or touri st's journal-but managed to capture the subjects in ways that preserved their dignity and character.

Landscapes and abstracts seem to be the common stock of the Southwestern photographer, ever since Ansel Adams' breathtaking precision captured so much of the desert landscape. Once again Schaefer displays his acumen in capturing arresting, precise images. From the familiar waters of Sabino Canyon to the forests of New Zeland, he used both abstract detail views and full-horizon panoramas to document the landscape in ways that bring out the character and beauty of each location.

Schaefer isn't angry or overtly political; a light, humorous touch seems to grace all of his photographs, along with a deep respect for his many subjects. The trip downtown might seem a long one to make just to see some photographs of crumbing buildings, but those interested in Schaefer's unique accomplishments will find it a rewarding experience.

"John P. Schaefer: People Places and Things, Thirty Years in Photography" is showing in the main gallery of the Tucson Museum of Art through March 2. Call 624-2333 for more information.