Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Couple at the Gas Station, 1972, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
For five decades, photographer Mimi Plumb has turned her camera toward a changing American landscape. Now, her first museum exhibition, Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb, brings together three major bodies of work at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
On view through September 27, 2026, the exhibition follows Plumb’s photographs from the 1970s to the present. Organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Blazing Light brings together images that tether everyday life to the larger forces reshaping the country.
Born in 1953, Plumb is based in Berkeley, California. She works primarily in black and white, using the West Coast’s intense sunlight to heighten the drama of her images. Bright skies dissolve into white, while stark shadows cut across faces, buildings, and landscapes. Her photographs find the uncanny in ordinary places, revealing the tension between familiar surroundings and a world in constant flux.
The exhibition begins with The White Sky (1972–78), a series Plumb began photographing as a teenager. Working around San Francisco during a period of consistent development and political change, she photographed young people alongside construction sites, open land, and expanding suburbs. The images capture a generation coming of age alongside a landscape being rapidly transformed.
The relationship between people and place carries into Landfall and The Golden City, which spans 1984 to 2020. Plumb turns her attention to landscapes and urban spaces shaped by environmental change and social upheaval.
Her most recent series, Reservoir (2021–25), continues this exploration through increasingly sparse landscapes. The series connects Plumb’s longstanding interest in American geography to contemporary questions about development, scarcity, and change.
Blazing Light offers a portrait of an artist who has spent her career looking closely at a country in transition. Together, the three bodies of work observe how large political, economic, and external forces become visible in ordinary places, often juxtaposing the intimate with the monumental. From teenagers standing at the edge of new development to roads, reservoirs, and landscapes shaped by decades of change, Plumb’s photographs ask what happens when the American dream meets the physical world.
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb is on view through September 27, 2026, at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University.
Mimi Plumb’s first museum survey, Blazing Light, brings together five decades of photographs examining a changing American landscape.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Truckee Canal, 1985, gelatin silver print, promised gift of Lucas Foglia. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Boys and Tires, Sears Point, 1976, pigmented inkjet print, promised gift of Lucas Foglia. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Adrift, 2021–2025, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Working primarily in black and white, Plumb uses California’s intense sunlight, stark shadows, and high contrast to give everyday scenes a heightened, almost uncanny quality.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Woman at the Crystal Pistol #2, 1987, gelatin silver print, promised gift of Lucas Foglia. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Kim, 1987, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Girl in the Polka Dot Dress, 1990, gelatin silver print, promised gift of Lucas Foglia. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Richard, 1986, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Tang, 1987, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Her photographs explore the tensions between the American dream and the realities of rapid development, environmental change, and global political and economic instability.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Crowd and Fire, 1976, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), White House, 1975, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Pool, Fire Above San Rafael, 1976, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Tree I, 2021–2025, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Mimi Plumb (American, born 1953), Lucy in Smoke, 2021–2025, pigmented inkjet print, courtesy of the artist. © Mimi Plumb.
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb is on view at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, through September 27, 2026.
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb. June 13–September 27, 2026. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Photos: David O. Brown, Johnson Museum
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb. June 13–September 27, 2026. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Photos: David O. Brown, Johnson Museum
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb. June 13–September 27, 2026. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca NY. Photos: David O. Brown, Johnson Museum
Exhibition Information:
Mimi Plumb
Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb
June 13–September 27, 2026
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Cornell University
114 Central Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14853
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art: Website | Instagram
Mimi Plumb: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.
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