World Press Photo Exhibit Opening Reception

The Los Angeles Times and USC Annenberg School for Communication are sponsoring a 5^th annual photojournalism seminar for college and high-school students and their teachers on

Friday, Jan. 16, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

With a backdrop of 185 photographs from World Press Photo 08, the world’s most prestigious annual press photography contest, students will be offered workshops taught by award-winning photographers.

Here is the tentative lineup of World Press Photo winners:

Tim Hetherington / Visual Narratives

Hetherington, 38, won World Press Photo of the Year 2007 with an image of a weary American soldier in Afghanistan. He is a freelance photographer and filmmaker who creates diverse forms of visual narratives from long-term projects. His experiments have ranged from digital projections at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, to poster exhibitions in Lagos, to downloads for handheld devices. He studied literature at Oxford University and worked in publishing before returning to college to study photojournalism. He is based in London and is a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair magazine.

Erika Larsen / Personal Vision

Larsen won second prize for sports feature stories for a series on child hunters published in Field & Stream where she is a contributing photographer.  Larsen, 32, received an MFA in computer graphics design and BFA in photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. She is based in New York City and represented by Redux Pictures. Her work appears regularly in magazines including Time, Newsweek, Fortune Small Business and Redbook, on topics including family life, religion and spirituality, and rural America. Her coverage of the world of hunting also has been recognized by the American Society of Magazine Editors, American Photography and the Society of Photographers.

David Liittschwager / Photography with a Conservative Agenda

Liittschwager won for first prize for nature stories for his stunning images of microscopic sea creatures published in National Geographic. The freelance photographer grew up in Eugene, Oregon. Between 1983 and 1986, he worked as an assistant to Richard Avedon in New York City. After working in advertising, he turned his skills to portraiture with an emphasis on natural history subjects. Liittschwager is now a contributing photographer to National Geographic and other magazines, and a successful book author. In 2002 he produced the books “Skulls” and “X-Ray Ichthyology: The Structure of Fishes” for the California Academy of Sciences. Liittschwager’s books in collaboration with Susan Middleton include “Archipelago,” “Remains of a Rainbow” and “Witness.”

Justin Maxon / Documentary Photography

Maxon, 25, won first in the daily life category for an image of a homeless Vietnamese woman and her child.  Maxon’s passion is documentary projects that focus on poverty and social injustice. His first project was on the poor and homeless living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Recently, he has worked in a small town outside Philadelphia exploring the importance of religious faith in overcoming community challenges from gang violence, high levels of pollution and a defective public school system. Maxon’s work has been honored by the Alexia Grant Foundation, NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism and Photo District News. He is represented by Aurora Photos, and is in his last year of study at San Francisco State’s journalism program. 

LOCATION: USC Annenberg School for Communication, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles

CHECK-IN: 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m., Annenberg East Lobby

PARKING: $8

A light breakfast and lunch will be provided.

The photojournalism seminar is free, and is open to teachers as well as students. Register online by Jan. 6. If you later decide not to go, please return to the link, reenter your name and under “attending” click “No.”

Program is subject to change. Details will be e-mailed to registered students and faculty in early January.

Contact: Karin Davies, karinjdavies@aol.com