Annenberg Space for Photography Announces Iris Nights Lecture Series for Country: Portraits of an American Sound

LOS ANGELES, May 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Annenberg Space for Photography today announced the lineup of speakers for their popular Iris Nights lecture series presented in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition, Country: Portraits of an American Sound. 

Country: Portraits of an American Sound uses historical and contemporary photographs to explore how images shape the public identity of country music performers and of the genre itself.  Celebrated performers such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Keith Urban and Hank Williams—as well as deejays, fans, executives and musicians—are seen in the works of photographers who documented multiple generations of this popular history.

IRIS NIGHTS LECTURE SERIES SCHEDULE

All Iris Nights lectures will take place on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-8pm at the Annenberg Space for Photography Skylight Studios, a multimedia studio and retail gallery located directly across the park from the Photography Space.  Tickets are free of charge and available by online reservation on a first-come, first-served basis.  The series is also available to view live online via streaming.

June 5 – Jeff Lipsky is a Los Angeles-based photographer who has traveled the world, capturing striking images for editorial and advertising clients.  His work has graced the covers and pages of Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, ESPN The Magazine and Women's Health.  Lipsky will share anecdotes from his sessions with notable personalities such as Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood.

June 12 – Sara Terry is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work has been featured at SXSW.  Terry has spent three years documenting the subculture of the American folk scene for her documentary FOLK.  Her lecture will include photos, clips and anecdotes about the talented singer-songwriters featured in the film, as well as her adventures in "the itinerant folk nation."

June 19 – Kurt Markus has lived several lives as a photographer, beginning with capturing images of cowboys before exploring fashion, travel, landscape, nudes and celebrity portraiture.  He has photographed campaigns for Armani, Banana Republic, BMW and Nike.  Museums as well as commercial galleries have featured Markus' photographs in solo and group exhibitions.

June 26 – William Albert Allard is a pioneer in color photography, and has contributed to National Geographic Society publications as a writer as well as photographer for fifty years.  Allard's photographs display an intimacy and immersion in his subjects and their lifestyles.  In October 2010, National Geographic magazine recognized Allard's work on the American West with a 10-page excerpt from his retrospective William Albert Allard: Five Decades.

July 10 – Melanie Dunea travels the world on assignment, photographing influential and powerful people in the public eye. In addition to her magazine editorial clients, Dunea has shot with major advertising, entertainment, corporate and music companies around the world.  She has received photographic awards from American Photography, PDN and the Lucie Foundation.

July 17 – Raeanne Rubenstein has photographed influential names in movies, music and pop culture.  She has had 10 books of her photographs published through the years, including three focusing on country music stars–Honky Tonk Heroes, Gone Country and Country Music: The People, Places & Events That Shaped The Country Sound.  Rubenstein is one of the photographers featured in Country: Portraits of an American Sound, and has contributed hundreds of her pictures to magazines, CD covers, films and books worldwide.

July 24 – Michael Wilson is a freelance photographer who has worked extensively in the music industry, photographing artists such as Lyle Lovett, B.B. King and Waylon Jennings and working with a list of clients that includes Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music and MCA Records. Wilson, whose images are featured in Country: Portraits of an American Sound, will be joined by one of the exhibit's guest curators–Shannon Perich, the Curator of the Photographic History Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.  Perich has authored two books, curated a number of exhibitions and maintains the first collection of photography in an American museum.

July 31 – Amelia Davis will share moments in history through the work of famed photographer Jim Marshall.  From the 1950's North Beach Jazz scene in San Francisco through the turmoil of the 60's and the rock & roll explosion in America, Marshall captured truly iconic photographs, including images of Johnny Cash's groundbreaking Folsom and San Quentin concerts.  He was also the recipient of the Recording Academy's Trustee Award, an honorary Grammy presented to individuals for nonperformance contributions to the music industry.  As Marshall's longtime assistant, Davis works to preserve and protect his legacy as a photography pioneer.

August 7 – Lawson Little has photographed country music stars including Dwight Yoakam and Hank Williams III, and helped to establish the photography program at Florida Keys Community College.  Little also created the book Nashville A Photographic Documentary of Guitar Town, capturing images of significant artists who have contributed to the modern emergence of Americana, alternative country and the roots music movement.

August 14 – Ed Rode has over 33 years of experience behind the camera.  His work has appeared in many national magazines, including Vogue, TIME and Sports Illustrated.  His corporate clients include Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Bridgestone and CMT.com.  Rode's shots grace the covers of many of today's top country music publications and albums.

August 21 – Tim Davis and Michael McCall are guest curators for Country: Portraits of an American Sound.  As Curator of Photography for the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, Davis manages a collection of more than 500,000 photographs as part of the museum's Frist Library and Archive.  McCall is a journalist and author who has written about country music and popular entertainment for more than 30 years and since 2005 has been the country album reviewer for the Associated Press.  In 2006, he became the staff writer/editor at the Country Music Hall of Fall of Fame® and Museum.

August 28 – Adam Jahiel's work has appeared in major publications, including TIME, Newsweek and The New York Times, as well as in dozens of books, including the acclaimed A Day in the Life series.  For years, Jahiel has photographed the cowboys of the Great Basin, capturing a ruggedly authentic American subculture.  

September 4 – Danny Clinch's work has been featured in publications such as Vanity Fair, Spin, Rolling Stone, GQ and Esquire and his photographs have appeared on hundreds of album covers.  Clinch has presented his work in numerous galleries and published two books.  He has also directed music videos for Willie Nelson, Tom Waits and the Avett Brothers, among many others. As a director, Clinch has received two Grammy Award nominations.

September 11 – Henry Horenstein has traveled throughout the United States, documenting the artists and audiences at honky-tonk bars, outdoor festivals and community dances to preserve the culture of country music.  His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums including the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.  Horenstein's photographs, as well as his short documentary Spoke, are featured in Country: Portraits of an American Sound.

September 18 – David McClister is a Nashville-based photographer specializing in documentary, photojournalism and portraiture.  His clients have included Men's Journal, Esquire and Capitol Records.  McClister has also directed music videos for country stars such as LeAnn Rimes, Lady Antebellum and The Band Perry.  McClister is one of the photographers featured in Country: Portraits of an American Sound.

September 25 – Slideshow Night is a presentation of images from artists not featured in Country: Portraits of an American Sound, but who also photograph the worlds of country music and the American West.  Slideshow Night is held at the Annenberg Space for Photography.

Schedule and participants are subject to change.

About the Annenberg Space for Photography
The Annenberg Space for Photography is a cultural destination dedicated to exhibiting photography.  The intimate environment features state-of-the-art, high-definition digital technology as well as traditional prints by both renowned and emerging photographers.  It is the first solely photographic cultural destination in the Los Angeles area.

Annenberg Space for Photography
2000 Avenue of the Stars 
Century City, CA 90067
Tel:  213.403.3000
www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org

Hours for Annenberg Space for Photography 
and Annenberg Space for Photography Skylight Studios
Tuesday through Friday:  11am – 6pm
Saturday and Sunday: 11 am – 9pm

Admission is free. Parking with validation is $3.50 Wednesdays - Fridays and $1.00 on weekends.

SOURCE The Annenberg Foundation