The Annenberg Space for Photography

The Annenberg Space for Photography | February 26, 2010

Last night I had the pleasure of visiting a FREE museum, the Annenberg Space for Photography over in Beverly Hills / Avenue of the Stars which shares the beautiful office park complex that houses the renowned creative artists agency as well as Craft Restaurant and Craftbar created by chef Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame.

Inside of the CAA building

The Annenberg Space for Photography was founded by Wallis Annenberg, heir to the Annenberg Fortune (TV Guide, 17 magazine, etc) who resides in Los Angeles and has a love for Photography.

“Photography is one of the most accessible and personal forms of art. We see the creation of the Annenberg Space for Photography as a service to the community where visitors can see the world through a different lens and leave feeling motivated to make positive change.”

–Wallis Annenberg
Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation

Annenburg Space for Photography

In the company of some good friends, I visited during the Sports Photography Exhibit featuring the work of renowned photographers Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer – two talented men who grew up in the same era competing with each other covering many of the same events and subjects for Sports Illustrated magazine covers and other publications. Each of their work embodies their personalities and very distinctive styles, with Iooss being more of a creative editorial / artistic approach and Leifer having more of a documentary and news editorial approach. Here is a brief description of the exhibit taken from the Annenberg website:

Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer offer a dialogue not just about winning and losing, but all that it means to be human.

Walter Iooss

Neil Leifer

Over the span of their careers, Iooss and Leifer have captured the lives of our greatest sports heroes, contributing to the collective visual memory of our times. Their combined photographic experience amounts to nearly a century of documenting history in motion, and creating sports legends.

What shines through the still photographic images are the inner workings of aspiration and triumph; tremendous strength coupled with consummate grace; a keen sense of vision and personal drive propelled by amazing physicality. Ultimately we see the great heights and depths of human experience condensed into single, stirring, revelatory frames.

Obviously, the photos in the exhibit are the some of the most copywritten images in the world, so I’m not going to post many of them in this blog entry – but I will say that the exhibit is WELL worth seeing in person, especially when you have time to watch the digital feature – which appears in a darkened center gallery on two 17 foot screens on opposite walls – and showcases simultaneously the work of the two photographers contrasted to each other, showing the same games, sporting events and athletic subjects in captured in strikingly different photography styles.

9/11 Surfer - my favorite photo of the day by Walter Iooss

A friend who visited the museum me said he found the experience to be almost religious in the amazing way that humanity was depicted in the imagery displayed. I agreed and would highly recommend the Annenberg space for photography to anyone who appreciates beauty and finds an interest in gaining an insider perspective on the insights and strategies of two of the worlds most gifted Sports photographers.

I personally preferred the photographic and Portraiture style of Walter Iooss because of my background in branding and marketing – I’m always looking for that epic moment, the “heroic” pose that he talks about, so his style of shooting appealed to me. Any of his photos could hang on a wall as a piece of individual, stand-alone artwork. That said, if I were a news editor, I would more frequently pick the photos of Leifer because of his ability to capture the entire feel of the moment in which the shot occurred and the context of the situation with his angles, which tend to be not so much focused on capturing the individual but on capturing the entire feel of the event as a whole.

There are a few great videos about the exhibit available on the Annenberg Website, here are a couple I liked:

Surf Photography

Beyond Sport Video

The facility is beautiful, the staff is very friendly, well educated and passionate about the art, parking is only $3.50 with validation and the museum is FREE. Plus there are numerous cafe’s and restaurants in the complex that are very inviting and affordable with a lovely environment where you can go and reflect on the art with friends after your tour.