The Annenberg Space for Photography will open its first exhibition dedicated to sports photography this Saturday, November 14. The exhibit includes examples of modern sports photography and share expert photographers� perspectives on achieving the highest standards. Titled �SPORT: Iooss and Leifer� the photography exhibition features the best works by Sports Illustrated photographers Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer. A series of sports photography special events will take place at the Annenberg Space for Photography while the exhibition remains open through March 7, 2010.
While Iooss and Leifer have competed for top sports photography assignments over the past fifty years, they have made a successful team effort to present sports photography in the best light in this new exhibition. Iooss cites ï¿
½peak action� as his ultimate goal. You can see this with dozens of photographs that capture the moment that clinched a victory or portray the dedication of athletes perfecting their skills during months of practice. As Neil Leifer told exhibition preview visitors on November 11, �it�s a joy to watch someone go to a level that is unmatched.�
Personalities stand out as much as performance in this exceptionally diverse collection of great sports photography from the past fifty years. You can see Muhammed Ali�s penchant for self promotion and Michelle Kwan�s passion for perfection in their portraits at the show. The program also takes you behind the scenes of competitive sports photography with rare scenes captured by ascending a cherry pic
ker or climbing to the bottom of an empty swimming pool.
Annenberg Space docent Pamela Davis is enthusiastic about the show and this opportunity to share these exceptional photographs with visitors. �It�s exciting to have an introduction to the photographs by the photographers themselves,� she explains. Her preview tour shared insights such as Neil Leifer�s getting an insider view on sports events by volunteering to assist Veterans Hospital residents at sporting events and Walter Iooss� experiences photographing children playing sports without any inhibitions before the camera.
There is much more than meets the eye at this exhibition. The Annenberg Space is using the latest technology to greatly expand the exhibition�s coverage. The foundation of the exhibition displays eighty prints enlarged to magnify the impact of each image. But there is much, much, more. ArcLight Productions has produced a digital feature presentation to narrate the exhibition, with additional standout photographs and interviews with star photographers. In addition, high resolution monitors show hundreds of sports photographs in slide show series to round out this presentation of the many facets of sports photography.
The featured sports photographers from this exhibition will be joined by other experts for a series of workshops and events highlighting the theme of sports photography. This Saturday evening, November 14, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., Walter Iooss will speak on the topic of �Sporting Life.� Registration for this event is full, but if you act quickly, you can pre-register to hear Neil Leifer on Thursday, January 7, when he shares his knowhow on creating classic images. In addition, Lucy Nicholson will present �Shooting Sports� Thursday, December 17, James Colton will speak about �Sports Photography� on Thursday, January 14 and Art Brewer will be featured on Thursday, January 21 to chronicle surfing in photography. Jimmy Chin will complete the speaker series on Thursday, February 18 with �Adventure Sport Photography.�
The special speaker series of accomplished professional photographers is one more way the Annenberg Space for Photography is achieving ambitious goals during the first year it has been open to the public. �The photographers are the heroes of this space who bring this place to life,� explains Len Aube, Executive Director of the Annenberg Foundation. Aube tells visitors that the vision of the gallery is to be on the leading edge of where the digital world can take us. Fortunately for Los Angeles visitors, the Annenberg Space for Photography is not far away and admission is free. It is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars in Century City, just north of Olympic Boulevard and is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
