GLENDALE — Armenian Arts Gallery is presenting five local photographers who come together for a group exhibition to celebrate their friendship and their love for the city of Los Angeles. Opening reception will be held on Thursday, December 8 from 7-10 pm
Coming from diverse backgrounds, these photographers bring their own unique experiences and vision in portraying the vast landscape of the Greater Los Angeles area, its architecture, people, and multitude of cultures.
Participating Artists: Nick Ut, Stephen Coleman, Patti Ballaz, Gary Brainard, and Rouzanna Berberian
Nick Ut: was born as Huỳnh Công Út in Long An, Vietnam, in 1951. In 1966, at a very young age, Ut joined The Associated Press (AP) in Vietnam, after his older brother Huynh Thanh My, also an AP photographer, was killed in combat. There were many close calls for Nick Ut while covering the war in Vietnam. When the Americans and South Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1970, he was wounded three times: in his stomach, his left leg and in his chest. The highlight of Ut’s career came on June 8, 1972, when he photographed Kim Phuc running and screaming after her village had been bombed with Napalm by South Vietnamese planes. Immediately after making the photo, he rushed the girl to a hospital, which saved her life. The image won every major photographic award in 1973, such as the World Press Photo award, the Pulitzer Prize, the George Polk Memorial Award, and the Overseas Press Club award. In 1993, Nick Ut was asked to open a new AP office in Hanoi, where he worked with his old colleague from his Saigon years, George Esper. Ut is now a US citizen and currently lives in Los Angeles. He works for AP as a photojournalist, and is still in touch with Kim Phuc, now living in Canada. On the 40th anniversary of that Pulitzer-Prize-winning photo in September 2012, Ut became the third person inducted by the Leica Hall of Fame for his contributions to photojournalism.
Stephen Coleman: is a veteran television news photojournalist and editor at Southern California based KABC TV. He has thirty five years experience covering stories in southern California. His passion of still photography inspired him to develop two self funded exhibits. His photographs were displayed from June 2007 to spring 2014 at Los Angeles City Hall, and are currently on exhibit at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration. Stephen also operates his gallery space in Monrovia for more than 7 years. Stephen’s photography has received numerous commendations from Los Angeles County and the California cities of Los Angeles, Glendale, and Monrovia. One of his greatest honors is having his photography selected to be presented as a gift and displayed in Berlin, Germany. His interests are in capturing Los Angeles area urban photographs as well as Death Valley, Big Sur, Yosemite, and Monument Valley, all with an eye towards beauty. Stephen is passionate about photography and takes pleasure in sharing his view of the world frame by frame.
Patti Ballaz: Patti Ballaz’s dynamic photographs reveal and interpret the unique character of Southern California… from the back alleys and bridges of downtown Los Angeles to the dramatic desolation of the Salton Sea. Born and raised in Fresno, Patti started as a professional portrait photographer. At just 19, she jumped into the frantic world of TV news, working on the frontlines of breaking stories for three decades. During her 25 years at KTTV in Los Angeles, Patti earned numerous awards for her documentary and feature videography, including two Emmys, four Golden Mics, and Two Edward R. Murrow awards. Patti’s TV News career abruptly ended when she was beaten and badly injured while covering a melee at a Los Angeles park in 2007. Since then, Patti has pursued her passion for still photography, turning her unique eye on the landscapes, urbanscapes, and people of Southern California. “I like to find the picture within the picture,” Patti says. “I capture the beauty of the world as I would like to see it.” Through the photographer’s generous donation, a collection of 160 of her photographs are permanently on display at USC’S Keck Medicine hospitals and clinics.
Gary Brainard: is a six time Emmy-Award winning photojournalist and a fine art photographer based in Los Angeles. Born in Hermosa Beach, he has worked the streets of Los Angeles as a Television Photojournalist for 43 years, receiving many awards for his work. He has traveled extensively the back roads of California searching for the beauty that surrounds us. “Capturing the natural world is my path to Peace and Tranquility” Gary says. A lot of planning goes into his images. Sunrise and sunset times and angles, phases of the moon, and the tides are all part of Gary’s process. According to him “It’s about being at the right place, at the right time”. Gary hopes you enjoy his images and experience the same emotions he felt when capturing them. It’s all good.
Rouzanna Berberian: is an accomplished artist and an educator. She was born in Yerevan, Armenia. When her family immigrated to the United States in 1990, Rouzanna continued her education at Pasadena City College. She changed her major from engineering to fine arts as soon as she took her first art class with influential artist and educator Jim Morphesis. Later, she continued her studies which led her into teaching art and inspiring generations of students. Primarily known for her circuit board paintings, Rouzanna delved into photography when she was offered a teaching position in digital photography at South Pasadena High School. With Stephen Coleman’s mentorship and inspiration from fellow photographers, she photographs anything that sparks her imagination. Her proudest moment was when she was nominated for Music Center’s BRAVO awards for excellence in art education in 2012 and when her photographs were selected by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center portraying “A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America” in 2014. Rouzanna received her Masters in Fine Arts from the California State University and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Greater Los Angeles area and in Armenia. Currently she teaches Drawing/Painting, and Photography at South Pasadena High School. Her work is in numerous public and private collections.
EXHIBITION DATES:
December 8, 2016 – December 10, 2016
Armenian Arts
1125 S. Central Ave. Glendale, CA 91204
818-244-2468 Email: [email protected]
