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)

More than half of the elephants in the world have been massacred over the last 30 years. Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson want to do as much as they can to help reverse this alarming trend through the advocacy work and their photography. They explained in last night's lecture exactly how important these creatures have been to the planet and its people.

This husband and wife team has passed their passion for these majestic animals on to their young son, Lysander. The young advocate opened his parent's lecture with a message: "You should not do to elephants what you don't want the elephants to do to you." Such enlightened words from such a young man!

What makes this duo such a great team? The fact that, as Marie noted, Cyril is the "wordsmith" during the lecture and she makes sure that the photography slideshow chugs along at a good clip. They work together as smoothly as a well oiled machine!

Cyril and Marie explained how they were unsuccessful photographing a magical moment of two lions swimming in the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe but not to worry: they have captured plenty of other shots, some of which include animals which have "posed" for the photographers, such as the bull elephants above. But they do try to discourage their subjects because they like to be as spontaneous as possible.

Here's a beautiful spontaneous shot taken by them during a dust storm in Kilimanjaro.

Said Cyril during the lecture: "Let's hope we've started a stampede." The kind of stampede he's referring to is one of action from people all over the world to save Asian and African elephants.

Just because her husband is a "wordsmith" doesn't mean that Marie had plenty to say during the lecture. She informed the crowd how they can help save the world's elephants: by educating yourself, re-connecting with nature and saying positive prayers.

Cyril and Marie were generous enough to discuss their work with some of the folks in attendance after the lecture. Thanks to both of you for such an enlightening night!

We'll leave you with a fun shot of the youngest elephant rights advocate we know. And remember, "You should not do to elephants what you don't want the elephants to do to you!"

(All images by Unique for the Space)

We live in the Digital Age and it seems like a lot of kids (and adults!) alike are more likely to spend a Saturday swinging a Wii remote over their heads than spending a day looking at art. Don't get us wrong, we at the Annenberg Space for Photography are as guilty as anyone when it comes to our love of technology and this is most obvious with the Annenberg Audio Tour.

We designed the Annenberg Audio Tour— to give guests additional details about select photographs throughout the exhibit. Our audio tour is simple. It consists of a series of QR (that's short for Quick Response) codes printed on caption cards throughout the galleries, headphones and an iPod provided by the front desk at the Space. You can also use your very own smart phone.

It's very easy to use. If you're not using one of the devices at the Space, just download a QR reader to your own smart phone, scan the QR code on the caption card and enjoy! It's information about the exhibit's photographers and images you can't find anywhere else. Each QR Code leads you deeper into the exhibit, giving you information about numerous images, some of them very iconic, and their subjects that you never knew before. 

Stanley Greene represents a dwindling number of photographers honored for their work with traditional film photography. Yet unlike many legendary film photographers who refuse to convert to digital, Stanley has not only learned to appreciate the winning aspects of digital photography but is currently celebrating a positive response to a YouTube trailer to promote his new photo book: Black Passport.

Black Passport is a stark collection of Greene's images made only more powerful by their collection into this striking trailer. When Stanley showed this clip at the Space on the giant 7' x 14' screens - the reaction was powerful and palpable.

We were blown away.

Stanley is not exactly a huge fan of digital film and its online video complement (which he called 'the youTUBE") - it was clear throughout his presentation that he will always prefer traditional film photography.

He name-checked Kathryn Bigelow and sang her praises for using traditional film to shoot "Hurt Locker," and also added that - to his client's dismay - his next year-long project is set to be shot solely on film.

In his presentation, Stanley acknowledged the challenges facing photographers who prefer film in a digital society, but made it clear that he welcomed the fight to preserve and continue the use of film.

The lecture was much more than just a "film vs. digital" debate. Stanley shared images and discussed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the recent earthquake in Haiti.

His images were bold and evocative.

Stanley brought a casual air of cool to the podium - giving his presentation like he was having a conversation with friends. He had a fluid quality to his speech and gestures that brought to mind a musician soloing at the front of a darkened stage.

The Q&A was as interesting as the presentation.

Afterwards, Stanley held court and autographed copies of "Black Passport."

He even made that into something special to witness...

Thank you Mr. Greene for giving us so much to think and 'travel' on!

BTW - the same day as Mr. Greene graced our Space he was lauded and loved on the pages of the NY Times Lens Blog in an entry titled "Stanley Greene's Redemption and Revenge." Go and read more about him!