It’s days like this that make us glad to be on the West Coast.

To start with, one of our fave photo institutions in Los Angeles, the Annenberg Space for Photography, once again hosted the Pictures of the Year, international exhibition ( or POYi).

For 2 days, many of the winners gave talks at the nearby CAA theater, to a rapt crowd of photographers and enthusiasts, sharing their work and the stories behind it.

It really doesn’t get much better than this in a pure photo program. In it’s 67th year, we are lucky to have it come to LA. And huge respect for the Annenberg for hosting this. Here is the complete list of winners, where you can click on the name and see the work.
Staying true to the mission statement of highlighting the photographic representation of the human condition,this exhibit pays it off, big time.

The event is not just a 2 day affair, but a continuing exhibition, with weekly lectures from major photographers from 7/1 through 9/30/2010, by photographers who live this life. Complete list is here.
With an exhibit culled from over 45,000 submissions, you are treated to the best work displayed in a respectful, approachable, venue.
Take a look at some of the work, right here. This is considered the best of documentary photography of 2009.

Oh, did we mention it was all free?

From the director of the program, Rick Shaw (above) to the photographers, the 2 days were inspirational and educational, just like they wanted it to be.

One of our faves was Barbara Davidson, who shared a continuing story about gang violence in LA. Not featuring the gangs, but the people they affect.

from her bio on the POYi site:
“Judges’ Special Recognition Community Awareness Award, First Place Issue Reporting Story – Newspaper
Barbara Davidson has been a staff photographer for The Los Angeles Times since 2007. Prior to LA, she worked at The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Times, and The Record in Ontario, Canada. In 2006 Davidson was named Newspaper Photographer of The Year by the Pictures of The Year International Competition. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography with seven fellow staff members for their body of work depicting the pain and chaos after Hurricane Katrina swallowed up New Orleans and Mississippi. In 2009 she was awarded the Visa d’Or Daily Press award for her coverage of the earthquake in China and was exhibited at the Visa Pour l’image festival in France.”

Brilliant and moving.

The opening crowd filtered through the unique exhibition space of the Annenberg, and then were treated to a video show of the winning photographers work, on the 2 state of the art 4K screens in the main room of the space.
Here are some examples from the previous show on Water, created in conjunction with National Geographic. And last years POYi.

As a very cool bonus, they had a silent auction for some of the photos from the winners. We ended up with a print for $45.00!!! OK, it’ll cost $145 to frame but it’s a beautiful image.

And of course a great wine and appetizer mixer for the event, where the local photo luminaries gathered. We suppose the wine made it easier to bid.

If you are in LA, you really have to go. Free, $1.00 parking, and some incredible photography, plus a lectures series.
Make sure you sign up for the lectures as, even though they are free, there is a limited capacity.

And if you are visiting, make sure you stop in. Not to be missed.

Huge thanks to Wallis Annenberg for creating and supporting this space in Los Angeles. We needed it and she came to create it.
Merci.

Here are the details:
Annenberg Space For Photography
Open Wed-Sun: 11am – 6pm
Century Park
2000 Avenue of the Stars, #10
Los Angeles, CA 90067
tel: 213.403.3000
fax: 213.403.3100