Santa Monica Pier Hosts Centennial Photography Exhibition:

The Los Angeles League of Photographers photography exhibition opened last Friday at the Pier’s Carousel Hippodrome in honor of the Pier’s year-long centennial birthday celebration.The exhibition’s theme, “LALOP at the pier” was a photographic vision of the Pier as seen through the eyes of LALOP Photographers. Many of the 47 pictures on display were shot during the last year, but some were taken in the past. The curators of the exhibition were LALOP photographers Cindy Bendat, Sara Jane Boyers, and Martin Cox.Cindy Bendat, who is a member of the Santa Monica’s Pier Restoration Corporation and LALOP, came up with the idea for the exhibition after she shot some photos for the PRC book Santa Monica Pier, A Century on the Last Great Pleasure Pier which was written for the centennial celebration by James Harris. In an interview with the Mirror, she explained that she wanted to “have a photo show to show the Pier as a source of art and inspiration.” She also noted that this exhibition is an “example of the community spearheading a project.” Exhibition photographs were taken in color and black and white and some were taken in the daytime while others were shot at night. All the funding for the exhibit was provided by LALOP.The following LALOP photographers took part in the exhibition Deborah Arlook, Cindy Bendat, Devadatta Best, Sara Jane Boyers, Larry Brownstein, Martin Cox, Margery Epstein, Helen K. Garber, Barbara Gluck, Mathieu Grandjean, Ken Haber, Mark Indig, Bianca le Mouël, Douglas McCulloh, Ann Mitchell, Don Schwartz, Aline Smithson, and Angela Spieles.The exhibit will continue until April 18th during Carousel operating hours which are Monday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Tuesday and Wednesday. LALOP was founded in 2002 and their press release for the exhibition states that their mission is “to expose the wider public to photography’s essential social, political, and aesthetic values while forming a network of working fine art, street and commercial photographers who join together to discuss, debate and review photography, to share and critique work, and to organize photographic exhibitions about the Los Angeles community in all of its diversity.” More information about LALOP can be found at lalopblog.blogspot.com.Additional events that have been planned to celebrate the Pier’s Centennial include an April 18 sideshow with a wide variety of performers. June 20 will be devoted to a celebration for kids that will include children’s entertainment and activities. On June 23 there will be a dance party to commemorate the memory of the Pier’s La Monica Ballroom. This event will include free dance instruction and live band performances of all types of music. On the Centennial Day, September 9, there will be celebrations both in the day and at night. A Centennial Day grand re-opening ceremony is being planned with a 100-foot cake, and the night festivities will include a fireworks show.