Blogs

Last Thursday, our Space was graced with a pair of the best eyes in the business - Jimmy ('only my mother calls me James') Colton - photo editor for Sports Illustrated.

Jimmy prepped us for his presentation by informing us that during the Olympics his job entailed reviewing 319,000 unedited images to narrow down to 70.

That's right: 319,000>70. Crazy, right? Then he showed us the 70 or so images - and he proved his point! When we first met Jimmy at our SPORT opening, he told a wonderful story about how he sees his work as digging for the jewel in the lightbox.

Jimmy showed us how SI became the source of the 'photo finish' for the famous Phelps 100m race. In this case the jewel was not too hard to find.

Each of his presentations were impeccably produced and superbly scored. The Olympics, Super Bowl, and my favorite, the Ooohs and Ahhhs reel.

As is often the case, Jimmy's lecture was attended by some of our other IRIS Nights stars, on this occasion including Lucy Nicholson...

...and Rick Rickman...

...and Manuello (Manny) Paganelli...

Needless to say, after the lecture Jimmy was swarmed by appreciative guests.

Many guests asked Jimmy to sign the complimentary issues of Sports Illustrated he brought along as lecture favors!

Always the gentleman - he was happy to oblige. Thank you Mr. Colton. The pleasure was ours!

Neil Leifer kicked off 2010 with our first IRIS Nights lecture of the New Year and boy did he just raise the bar!

We had such an amazing turnout that we actually had to turn a few people away (we're SORRY!)... over 250 people filled our digital gallery AND our workshop area. Neil - always the prepared professional - was at the Space early to run through his slides and do an interview with KCAL (which they will be running on Super Bowl Sunday of course). He also took the time to chat in our Reading Room with one of our previous esteemed lecturers, David Hume Kennerly.

Also in the house for Neil was recent lecturer Howard Schatz:

Neil was so prepared he brought his own introduction, narrated by Alec Baldwin(!). He watched with great joy as Alec, Sly Stallone and numerous luminaries sang his praises before he even reached the podium.

Once he took 'the stage' we sat rapt, listening to the master regale us with tales of how a hard-scrabble hobbyist kid (yes that's him in the picture below!)

...became the youngest photographer to grab the cover of Sports Illustrated. Neil's a natural storyteller and a huge fan of his subjects...whether it's Muhammad Ali...

...or it's Fidel Castro!

Neil peppered his lecture with threats to reveal the score of the Texas/Alabama BCS Championship game being played in Pasadena during the lecture, but he was loudly overruled by our guests who didn't want the surprise ruined.

Whether you were a sports fan, a photography buff, a history nut or an A-List photographer, Neil offered a highly entertaining evening...looking quite at home talking from our podium.

Afterwards, Schatz and Kennerly hung out for a while, chatting...

...while Neil settled comfortably in for a long line of book-buying fans...for whom he signed everything...books, postcards, napkins.

He was so comfortable, in fact, and the audience was so appreciative, that we're going to have him come back on February 13 for a special Saturday IRIS Nights lecture -completely new, unlike his first program.

What can we say? We love having Neil here and we're glad the feeling is mutual!

On Thursday the amazing Lucy Nicholson - senior staff photographer at Reuters - graced our Space with her lilting British accent, her light-hearted sense of humor and an incredible presentation.

From a short film about how an organization the size of Reuters shoots a big event to her own riveting photos, Lucy gave us a lot of rich content from a unique perspective to consider.

Seeing what goes into what we end up seeing online (around the world) was a real eye-opener. Once again we learned at the feet of a master (matrix?).

Lucy even gave a breakdown of the elements that go into Sport photography and discussed the importance of all the different factors...very helpful!

She also let us see some of her non-sports portfolio.

Lucy was so down-to-earth and accessible...

Long after the Q&A was over Lucy hung around talking with lecture guests, friends and fans...

Thank you for rounding out an amazing year of lecture Lucy!
Happy Holidays everyone!

Who's Afraid of Getting Old? Not Rick Rickman or his subjects!

Last night Rick Rickman pulled back the veil on a "senior underground - a movement that few know about and little has been written about. It's the venue in which people over 60 are enjoying the aging experience by keeping themselves enthusiastically engaged in life itself."

His infectious enthusiasm and personal stories about the geri-athletes he profiles were the perfect mix. Rick even brought along some of his subjects, including senior surfer Eve Fletcher - who at 83 years is still catching the waves!

Apparently Rick hangs ten with Eve a few mornings a week and she cuts him NO slack....

She was similarly feisty in the Q&A that followed the lecture - for us she was the poster girl of the lecture.

Rick also had on hand a couple of prize winning weight lifters named Bill Cunningham and Jane Hesselgesser whose physiques were in perfect form...and they were well past retirement age.

Holy Jack LaLane!

The list went on as did the expectation-challenging images. Senior synchronized swimmers, shot-putters and Iron Man competitors!

Apparently one Rick's subjects, Sister Madonna Buder (not pictured here) finished Iron Man (26 mile run 10 mile swim and 100 mile bike tournament) 22 TIMES - once with broken ribs, elbow and shoulder!

Just when we thought we couldn't see something new at the Photo Space - it came wrapped in the package of something old...amazing athletes with an amazing life perspectives captured by an amazing photographer.

Thank you Rick Rickman.

PRINTS AVAILABLE FROM
SPORT: Iooss & Leifer

Iooss: Kelly Slater                                           Leifer: Muhammad Ali vs. Cleveland Williams

What's the next best thing to wrapping up Muhammad Ali or Kelly Slater as a holiday gift for your sports aficionado? A limited edition and gallery quality print from the SPORT: Iooss & Leifer exhibit!

We are now offering visually stirring prints signed by the photographers. Whether your holiday is Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or old school Solstice, you can wrap a bow around artistry and captured magic for a friend, family member or associate. Proceeds from the sale of the prints will support the future activities of the Annenberg Space for Photography.

For details about the available prints, click on one of the images above. You will find a wide range of images from a variety of sports and eras. We are also making select monographs of the photographers' work available for purchase. Both prints and books can be purchased at the Photography Space during regular operating hours. We are not currently set up for online sales.

Phone inquiries from interested parties are welcome. Inquiries can also be submitted by email and fax; however all final transactions must be conducted in person at the Space. To place an order please download an order form linked below, fill it out, and contact a representative at the Annenberg Space for Photography.

Telephone 213.403.3018, fax 213.403.3100 or email goods@annenbergspaceforphotography.org

Walter Iooss' sales order form. Neil Leifer's sales order form.

Make this holiday one that your friends and family will never forget!

This past Saturday we had three great, free workshops with the folks from Blurb.com. Chad Jennings, VP of Design and founding employee at Blurb came down to the Photography Space with Blurb Marketing whiz Suzanne Caballero and shared tips, trade secrets and publishing discounts. Three classes of two hours each were held. Chad offered basic instruction on the two ways of making a book through Blurb - using their layout tool and using Adobe InDesign and uploading the layout. Chad showed printed samples of different layout options...and also show on the workshop screen how to approach different formats. Workshop attendees got hands-on advice an examples and also got special discount vouchers for their own future publishing efforts! The Photo Space was a perfect setting - giving arriving and departing students of all ages a chance to see our current exhibit and explore the possibilities. We even had a special guest visit by one of our POYi IRIS Nights lecturers, the amazing photographer Colin Finlay! The Blurb folks were totally engaging and supportive. They left us a number of sample books and promised they would come back and do it again soon. We hope to see you there.

When Laila Ali took the podium at the Space yesterday with her favorite photographer Mikki Willis, many of us were already expecting a brazen and strong voice from the reigning champion of women's middleweight boxing and daughter of the most famous boxer ever - Muhammad Ali.

Without a doubt Laila Ali lived up to the hype.

Laila was a powerful presence.

Mikki quizzed her on her boxing career and ran a slideshow of his work including some iconic portraits of her.

What we didn't expect was for Ali to be called out by a female audience member, amateur boxer Miss Tami, and challenged to a match to defend her undefeated title. During the Q & A following the lecture, Miss Tami approached the podium and faced Ali in a boxing stare down, "calling her out in front of everyone."

Laila surprised everyone by calling Miss Tami up to compare builds, reach, and hand-sizes. The audience was thrilled even as Staff pondered whether or not the situation was going to require a call to security.

It was clear, even before a smile broke free from them both, that the fearless mother, wife and fighter Laila Ali had no need for any guard or security.

Although Miss Tami or shall we call her Miss T. didn't get Ali to agree to a bout in the ring, her encounter might just develop into a more amiable relationship with one of the most inspirational female boxers today.

That Mikki Willis was personally selected by Laila Ali to discuss her life and career in front of an audience at the Space came as no surprise.

Their understanding of social responsibility and commitment to improving the lives of others is a common thread demonstrated in their work and emerged as the focus of the lecture.

The bulk of Mikki's questions turned the spotlight on Ali and were centered on her experiences and ideals rather than the intricacies of each photograph he captured of her,

but the discussion between the two friends still embodied the framework of Sports photography, the essential moments and people of sports history as captured by the photographer.

You tell us: How would you define Sports Photography?

(All photos © Unique for the Space)

One thing that we love about the lectures for the SPORT exhibit has been the wonderful assistance provided by the Women Sports Foundation, who helped us bring some incredible athletes to share the podium with photographers. They introduced us to Aimee Mullins who came to speak with Howard Schatz, and Laila Ali who spoke with Mikki Willis.

Last night was another great pairing - this one with a female athlete AND a female photographer - the lovely lenslady Marla Rutheford and the bubbly Olympic medalist Jessica Mendoza.

From the way these two ladies played off of each other and cracked each other up you would think you were a fly on the wall at a fun sleepover, not in the room with innovating industry leaders.

For all the laughter and fun the two were very serious in their discussion of their experiences and the not so charming realities about making it in the industry of sports photography.

Marla spoke to the challenges she has faced in developing a trust relationship with her subjects, resorting to charm, intellect, a lot of humor and even a little fibbing so they would feel comfortable posing for artistic semi-nudes.

Jessica discussed the wake-up call moment she had when one of the first images of her in circulation was digitally enhanced by the publishers, causing her to question whether or not her appearance should play such a central role in the coverage of athletics.

They both shared captivating stories about these and other turning points in their extraordinary careers.

...and try as they might they could not stop cracking each other up!

At the end of the day we were just thrilled to be in the presence of such positive, accomplished and inspiring ladies.

(All photos © Unique for the Space)

Over the course of the current exhibition's IRIS Nights lecture series, we've had an incredible opportunity to get to know and love the staff of one of our favorite magazines - National Geographic .

The behind-the-scenes stories of how NatGeo  photographers capture those unparalleled moments of our changing world almost rivals the wonder of viewing the photographs published in the magazine.

So it comes as no surprise that our final executive guest lecturer from National Geographic , Director of Photography David Griffin...

...was greeted by a VERY full house last Thursday at the Space.

David delivered that sought-after narrative, bringing us inside National Geographic  and answered questions from the audience including the ultimate...how to become a National Geographic  photographer?

Wallis Annenberg, Neil Leifer,

Lauren Greenfield,

and Michael Robinson Chávez

were all in attendance at the Space for David's lecture and multimedia presentation.

Along with the first-hand stories from the front lines,

David brought video footage and behind-the-scenes stills of NatGeo  photographers chasing the moments,

capturing the extraordinary,

and covering over 100 years of published issues.

The lecture was at times funny,

at times frightening,

at times instructive,

and all in all, totally awe-inspiring.

Thank you David Griffin!

(All images © Unique for the Space)

Not many of our guest lecturers visit the Space to present a collection of images focusing on environmentally-polluted sites and then disassociate their work from the larger effort of global advocacy...especially in regards to our world's water crisis.

But in the case of New York-born Princeton and Harvard grad David Maisel, when it comes to his photography, his work neither represents answers to a conflict nor offers any resolution other than a sense of poetic truth.

...if this is your position David, then thou ART as wise as thou ART beautiful!

Maisel's aerial photographs of sites where the natural ecological order has been eradicated are images of a stunning atrocity.

At first glance, you see a brilliant photograph of splattered colors,

but upon further examination, the photo actually depicts a man-made sea of toxic minerals destroying our environment.

A bittersweet presentation, Maisel's work - titled Black Maps  - is a visually emotional creation that does more than just leave an impression...

...it speaks to the soul.

If you missed the lecture, this is unfortunately one time when you won't be able to watch it online.

However, we will be posting an audio file and a transcript,

as well as a gallery of more photos.

But you must see the work...

...it's truly unique.

Afterward, David was extremely genial and approachable.

He answered questions, chatted with guests...

...signed some copies of his book Oblivion ...

then bid us all goodbye and good night.

(All photos © Unique for the Space)