Viewing Life at Annenberg Space for Photography

Los Angeles has no shortage of exhibition spaces. Just when I think I’ve visited them all I discover one, two or even ten more. Take the Annenberg Space for Photography. For the longest time I didn’t even know it existed and once I knew I couldn’t seem to find a moment to visit. Luckily, I was invited to the preview of its latest show Life: A Journey Through Time and finally made my way to the space. The gallery is located in the heart of Century City on the grounds of an office complex and always offers free admission. If I worked in the area you can be sure I’d be spending many of my lunch breaks here.

Life: A Journey Through Time is an ambitious project undertaken by the photographer Frans Lanting and his wife Christine Eckstrom. With an extensive background in wildlife photography and several years of collaboration with National Geographic they decided to take on one of their biggest challenges yet – to present a timeline of the history of life through the photographic medium.

They traveled all over the world capturing images to represent the history of the planet from its very beginning to the present. This led them from the edge of a volcano to the shores of New Jersey to slides of microorganisms to the Western edge of Australia and everywhere in between.

The result is a series of beautiful images that showcase the incredibly history of this planet as well as its unbelievable diversity. Accompanied by multimedia presentations and artifacts on loan from the Natural History Museum the exhibit is as comprehensive as it is fascinating.

If you work in the area be sure to stop by on your lunch hour and if you don’t definitely make the trip to see it. You’ll be glad you did.