"90210" WRAP UP PARTY PHOTOS

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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY LOS ANGELES

Photography in Los Angeles sort of gets a bad rap. Most people's minds only co-mingle the concepts of "L.A." and "photography" when they're waiting in line at the grocery store. Or, occasionally, if you live here, when driving through West Hollywood and finding your progress impeded by a group of egregiously double-parked SUVs.

But Los Angeles photography is more than paparazzi and red-light cameras, and L.A. photographers have more substantive works than "Kristie Alley in Bikini with Hamburger" and "Lindsay with Unidentified White Residue on Upper Lip." And the folks at the Lucie Foundation (the outfit behind the eponymous and prestigious photography awards) intend to demonstrate the truth of that statement with the first annual MOPLA (Month Of Photography L.A.), a month-long (duh?) "celebration of photography, its artists, and the community who adores, inspires and fuels it."

The month will consist of a series of workshops, exhibitions, seminars, lectures, portfolio reviews and, of course, parties.

The festivities will kick off April 4 at the Frank Pictures Gallery in Santa Monica with two separate exhibitions. The first, which opens at 6:30 inside the FPG, is ITHAKA, featuring the West Coast premiere of Alexandra Hedison's large-format photographs of the North American temperate rain forest. The second, which goes from 7 p.m.-10 p.m., is Pro'jekt LA Part 1 of the four-part Pro'jekt LA series, which will feature a series of photographs projected onto different buildings around L.A. The first one features the work of photographers Amanda Friedman, Felipe DuPouy and Helen K. Garber and is entitled Dark Side: The Anatomy and Topography of Los Angeles at Night.

"We want to inspire, encourage and engage those involved in the photography community, and by presenting programming for everyone, that will help us achieve that goal," says Cat Jimenez, MOPLA co-founder and executive director of the Lucie Foundation.

There really is programming for everyone. The extensive list of activities can be found here.

Note: although the MOPLA is officially observed during the month of April, many of the exhibitions listed at the above link are either ongoing or begin after April 30, but are in association with MOPLA.

List of MOPLA-curated events below:

B+
Ghost Notes
Exhibition: April 7, 2009, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

JOHN DELANEY
Golden Eagle Hunters of Mongolia
Exhibition: April 7, 2009, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

MARK EDWARD HARRIS
The Axis of Evil (Inside North Korea, Inside Iran)
Exhibition: April 7, 2009, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS
PDN's Emerging 30
Exhibition: April 7, 2009, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

TIM MANTOANI
Behind the Photographs
Exhibition: April 7, 2009, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

MARKUS KLINKO + INDRANI
Icons
Exhibition: April 21, 2009, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Pacific Design Center (Blue Building)

Pro'jekt LA series:

Pro'jekt LA Part 1: At 7:00 p.m., on April 4, the work of photographers Amanda Friedman, Felipe DuPouy and Helen K. Garber will combine in an outdoor projection entitled Dark Side: The Anatomy and Topography of Los Angeles at Night. This projection is at Frank Pictures Gallery, Bergamot Station in Santa Monica.

Pro'jekt LA Part 2: ‘Tis of Thee: Visual Language of American Faces and Landscape features the work of Douglas Adesko, Estevan Oriol and Hyers+Mebane and will take place at A&I+Isgo Lepejian in Hollywood on Friday evening, April 10.

Pro'jekt LA Part 3: Falling Down Empty: Rock-N-Roll Documentary Photography of life on the stage, on the road and simple life behind the scenes features the work of Autumn Dewilde, Pat Graham and Nick Zinner will be on Friday, April 24. (Location tba.)

Pro'jekt LA Part 4: The final installment of Pro’jekt LA on Thursday, April 30, is entitled In the Stills of the Night: Portraits of the LA Famous and Infamous featuring Gary Lee Boas, Patrick Hoelck and Mark Hunter aka The Cobrasnake. (Location tba.)

CELEBRITY SPOTTING

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ST. PATRICK'S SOUTH BAY PARTY PHOTOS

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