Great Book And Brooklyn Exhibition

During an impromptu 24 hours in New York last month, I enjoyed a brief opportunity to revisit the Brooklyn Museum for the first time since 1996.

The draw? In addition to longstanding curiosity about Georgia O'Keefe's 1949 canvas "Brooklyn Bridge" and other permanent collection works, I was enticed by online promotion of the current exhibition "Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to Present" organized by returning guest curator and author Gail Buckland.

Georgia O'Keeffe,
via Brooklyn Museum Shop

On site I learned that Buckland also created a beautiful new book -- in her words, via one of several email exchanges, "... not a catalogue but a self-contained trade book of the same title" -- featuring the 230 or so images credited to 170 photographers.

Both the exhibition and book include images from several A-listers not necessarily know for their still camera work, such as Andy Warhol, Stanley Kubrick and Leni Riefenstahl.

The museum displays, arranged in four galleries divided by a small exhibition-centric gift shop, are organized across eight themes like the chapters of the 300-page volume published by Knopf (with thanks to the author, a review copy arrived at my door not long after we established contact; thanks also to the museum for a review ticket).

Thomas Pelham Curtis,
via Brooklyn Museum

Looking back, it's certain I did not follow the suggested flow of the exhibition, quickly skipping to the Olympic section. It impressed me several photographs snapped at the first modern Olympiad at Athens in 1896 appear steps from images of Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Rare images captured by members of the first Team USA, and Buckland's wall-text pointing out early cameras used at the first Games, set up a theme described later in this exhibition section: The Olympics are the place at which the latest photo technology is often introduced.

It was fun to spot Sonja Henie skating on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, stills from Riefenstahl's "Olympia" (specifically, elements of an album the filmmaker presented to Adolf Hitler), the original negative of Bob Beamon's record-breaking long jump, and an action shot captured a millisecond before Greg Louganis' head made contact with a Seoul diving board. Buckland's hand-picked images in this five-ringed section, and across most other sections of the exhibition, include more than 60 Olympians or Games-related participants.

Carl Yarbrough, via Getty Images

Most breathtaking? Carl Yarbrough's mid-crash image of an airborne Hermann Maier competing in Nagano.

Most famous: Neil Leifer's overhead and ringside images of Muhammad Ali (see below).

One of the largest images on view is from London 2012's beach volleyball venue. The photographer, Donald Miralle, lined up center court just beneath a painter at his easel on the far side of the outdoor grandstand.

By chance, in the press room following Rio 2016's beach volleyball competition, I secured a photograph of the painting by that artist, whose name is Spens. For those who look closely at the images below, some may notice the canvas has grey speck, perhaps representing Miralle in the purple field atop the media seating area (in the photograph, Spens is visible above the window at center):

Donald Miralle, via Brooklyn Museum

Spens, photographed by Wolaver

Buckland's assorted selections reminded me of familiar sports images while introducing new material. I spotted fresh-to-my-eyes photos of Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gabby Douglas and Dorothy Hamill.

Annie Leibovitz,
via ArtNet.com

Though a Leibovitz image of an Olympic and NBA star appeared (see left), I was surprised that none of the photographer's 1996 Olympic images made the cut. Readers of this blog may recall my half-day on set with Leibovitz in Colorado Springs detailed in this 2008 post.

My hunch -- that some of these sponsor-commissioned works may no longer be Leibovitz's to contribute -- was sort of affirmed in an email exchange with Buckland.

"I do know and like Annie's Atlanta Olympic photographs," wrote Buckland. "With her, there is always many to choose from but she isn't always ready to let an author pick his or her favorite. Saying that, I always loved this picture of Magic Johnson and so do the people visiting the show. I am very pleased that I had permission (with some difficulty) being allowed to reproduce it and exhibit it."

In the book I appreciated Buckland's inclusion of a "Technology Timeline by Nigel Russell" in which the history of sports photography is summarized by decade or year from the earliest image-capturing methods to digital works captured by drone-mounted lenses. Another handy appendix titled "The Beginnings of Sports Photography" takes readers from the first known sports portrait (featuring a posed tennis player) to high-speed action images as technology and the artistry of camera work advanced.

Tim Clayton, via Brooklyn Museum

The book also includes a bit more detail (building upon the wall text in the exhibition) about special approaches to sports photography, such as early underwater and other aquatic imagery.

"Who Shot Sports" remains on view at the Brooklyn Museum through January 8, and I highly recommend a trip to see the exhibition as well as checking out Buckland's book.

Book cover image provided by Brooklyn Museum. Two in-exhibition images below by Nicholas Wolaver.

Neil Leifer, via ArtNet.com

Herb Ritts, via Brooklyn Museum

Better Eat Some Wheaties

One cereal that never made it to my table: Wheaties.

That's right: Not one time ever in my life has a spoonful of "The Breakfast of Champions" met my taste buds. 

Maybe it was a family thing, but growing up in suburban Oklahoma City, Corn Flakes, Grape-Nuts and an array of sugared cereals are what landed in my mother's grocery cart and kitchen cabinets. So much for raising an Olympian. 

Not even Mary Lou Retton's gold medal grin could change this; Caitlyn (then Bruce) Jenner's decathlon victory also cleared no hurdles on the cereal row for this child of the '70s. 

Come to think of it, I'm not sure my eyes ever went in search of Wheaties while doing my own grocery buying as an adult -- of the Big G/General Mills cereals, Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch is kind of my preference (though I sneak a box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes from time to time). 

I might just try Wheaties later this spring, however, inspired by the brand's decision to honor three additional Olympic champions of my youth: Edwin Moses, Janet Evans and Greg Louganis. According to The New York Times and other sources, this week the P.R. team for Wheaties made the announcement about the trio of new "Team Wheaties" champion boxes set to his stores later this spring. 

Like the article in The Times, an "All Things Considered" interview with Louganis on National Public Radio detailed an online petition that likely swayed Wheaties to consider a Louganis image for the cereal aisle. 

The five-time medalist is not the first Olympic diver on the orange box, but one of only a few, according to this list which names 1932 Los Angeles Olympic diver Jane Fauntz as the second Wheaties woman, chosen in tandem with or just after fellow '32 Olympian Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was named the first female Wheaties Champion. 

Louganis' NPR interview about Wheaties reminded me of my own conversation with the Olympic diver who earned four gold medals (1984 LA and 1988 Seoul) and one silver medal (1976 Montreal). The hero of the high dive spoke with me for about 12 minutes during the Team USA Media Summit in Los Angeles last month.

Photo by Nicholas Wolaver

My first questions for Louganis concerned his role with the LA24 Olympic bid team as our chat took place moments before the committee announced its Athlete Advisory Commission (AAC) led by Evans. 

Louganis explained his longtime friendship with the Olympic swimmer made his support of LA24 an easy sell. 

"Janet Evans is dear friend and she called to see if I'd be willing [to support the bid] and I said, 'Yes!'" said Louganis.

He added that prior to the March 8 announcement, Louganis contributed time at other LA24 events and the U.S. Olympic Committee's Road To Rio events that launched last year. I asked him what experiences from LA84 gave him the most to talk about in relation to the current bid.

"It was such a magical time to be in LA," said Louganis. "I was born and raised in Southern California, so it was great for it to be in my own backyard and to be able to share that with friends.

"I remember we were training before our event in Mission Viejo and the cycling was going through and it was so exciting," added Louganis. "One thing that was funny during that time: I would see how the teams and some of my friends were doing but then when it came to the awards ceremonies I’d turn the TV off. I didn’t want to see an awards ceremony because I didn’t want to get that image in my head and get ahead of myself because I needed to do the work."

Louganis noted the Games' positive impact for generations of children in Greater Los Angeles.

"[LA84] exposed a lot of kids to sports that they wouldn’t even think about, like kayak or cycling. That’s the thing that’s exciting about the LA24 bid is that so many of the facilities are already built, because the 1984 Games were so successful and the LA84 Foundation has been able to help with so much with youth health and wellness and outreach to youth through sports."

We also talked about Louganis' role as a pioneer and role model for the LGBT community, his 1995 book, and his perspectives on Sochi 2014 versus Rio 2016 as a potential "lightning rod for controversy" (my words) tethering LGBT athletes with the Olympics.

Louganis said he thought Brazil's Games would prove much more inclusive than Russia's.

"For Rio we can focus on the sports -- that's what it's supposed to be about," said Louganis.

The days leading to Sochi provided a whole different scene and conversation, he said.

"Everyone in the LGBT community was saying ‘boycott, boycott, boycott’ for Sochi and I was saying ‘no, don’t boycott because it hurts the wrong people – don’t hurt the athlete – [boycotts] hurt the athlete," said Louganis, who was not able to compete in the 1980 Moscow Games due to the U.S.-led boycott around the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Louganis explained he attended the Moscow Open Games -- held in the Russian capitol between the Sochi Olympics and Paralympics -- to support international friends and organizers in LGBT sports.

"I had some friends who are gay coming back from Sochi saying they felt safe and everyone was so welcoming," said Louganis. "My experience in Moscow was not Sochi -- it was totally different. 

"As soon as [many Muscovites] found out who was booking the rooms we were turned away from hotels. We had bomb threats at some of the events. We had to be very secretive about where we were holding some events. The military set off a smoke bomb at one of the events," said Louganis. 

"I was so impressed with the resilience (of organizers) and their courage to hold their event in Moscow in such a hostile environment," he added. 

Summer 2015 provided a more positive LGBT sports experience for the Olympic champion.

"Last year I was in Toronto for an LGBT sports summit," said Louganis. "I was so impressed with the Canadian Olympic Committee’s campaign of inclusion for one team, and that seems like the direction we’re going. That’s the reason I got connected with Athlete Allies, which is the U.S. national organization all about inclusion in sport. They are (promoting the theme that) we’re all in this together, that sports doesn’t have a label.”

When asked whether Olympic pin collecting ever was a thing, Louganis reminisced that during LA84 pin trading "really took off" and next to synchronized swimming pins (then a souvenir of a newly-introduced sport) diving pins were also harder to acquire but that he gave away more pins than he kept.

"I was too busy," said Louganis of pin collecting.

He also noted that a pin with his name and likeness is out there but he does not know who made them nor when.  

In addition to supporting LA24, Louganis shared excitement about the recent HBO Sports documentary telling his life story, "Back On Board: Greg Louganis" which was, in the weeks since our conversation, nominated for an Emmy.

When a future opportunity to speak with Louganis is presented, I'd like to inquire more about his bestselling book of the mid-1990s and his work with other Olympic bids or sponsors over the years. Might not hurt to delve into the 1980 Moscow boycott as well, if he is willing to discuss its impact on his career (I wonder whether Louganis ever met President Jimmy Carter and discussed the Moscow decision).

Louganis is very friendly, approachable and conversational, and speaking with him now ranks among the all-time favorite five-ringed conversations over the years. If there is only one regret of being starstruck by the initial conversation, I forgot to compare notes on spending time with Annie Leibovitz, who snapped the gorgeous underwater cover photo for "Breaking The Surface" the same year I met her in Colorado Springs.

It will be interesting to see Louganis' appearances with the awards presentation, future Road to Rio events, LA24 and other Rio 2016 Olympic activities play out in the weeks and months to come. 

Image credits: Mary Lou Retton/Wheaties via this site; Louganis photo by Annie Leibovitz via ArtNet; new 2016 Wheaties boxes via General Mills and Wheaties.com; Louganis with Wheaties via his Facebook page. All other photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Sidebar: During brief research of Wheaties history for this post, I learned an iconic destination of my college days in Minnesota played a role in the cereal's history. In downtown Minneapolis along the banks of the Mississippi River at St. Anthony Falls, the Gold Medal Flour Mill towers over the scene, and its neon letters, when reflecting in the waters of the river, form a "heart" -- at least that's what guys my age told their dates while walking along the once-abandoned, now refurbished Stone Arch Bridge, which was a make-out spot during the early 1990s. The original name "Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes" (from that smooch-inspiring flour mill) eventually evolved into "Wheaties," according to company lore. 

From left, Olympians Carol Lewis, Janet Evans, Greg Louganis, Carl Lewis,
Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner. Photo by Nicholas Wolaver

LA24 Athetes Advisory Council with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (center right)
and LA24 Chairman Casey Wasserman (center left). Photo by Nicholas Wolaver

Caitlyn Jenner Distances Self from Bruce Gender

Every once in awhile, someone asks my earliest Olympic memory.

The answer: Bruce Jenner.

Bruce is in the news today, not to mention breaking records via Twitter, for a new identity: Caitlyn Jenner.

But before writing about these headlines, a bit more on the Bruce background.

Vivid images of the Montreal Games decathlon champion on the family's Zenith screen also compete for 'first TV show memory' status in a field dominated by "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" segments, each viewed during the summer when I turned four in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond.

It was 1976, a year when watching anything but PBS children's programming and Saturday morning cartoons was verboten. As a treat, my sister and I did occasionally get to stay up through the opening credits to "The Rockford Files" since the show starred James Garner, a fellow Oklahoman.

Though I'm not certain the broadcast and competition timing (in an age pre-dating taped-delay), I do think the name Bruce Jenner stood out not only because of his gold medal feats, but also because we got to see his achievement on ABC's live broadcast of the decathlon competition during the day.

Those hot summer afternoons, my sister and I also enjoyed playing in the backyard swimming pool (one of those plastic kiddie pools purchased at TG&Y) donning our homemade bathing suits -- my mom, a seamstress, purchased fabric that closely matched the Team USA swim trunks and made us our own Olympic gear.

We didn't eat Wheaties, but we knew that guy on the box. And we got the joke when James Belushi parodied Jenner in a faux endorsement for "Little Chocolate Donuts" on SNL.

A few years later, I was reintroduced to Bruce Jenner when he got a role on my favorite show "CHiPs."

We also saw him on several TV specials, especially during the lead-up to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.

Until the last couple of years, that was the extent of my Bruce Jenner awareness. His noticed-by-me absence from the buildup to the 1996 Atlanta Games was something I chalked up to inflated appearance fees or a perceived over-exposure during the 1980s creating a long tail into the 1990s.

I deliberately opted to tune-out his reality TV appearances and the like, and didn't give much thought or credence to the tabloid coverage of Jenner's supposed quest for gender reassignment. But the recurring references, mostly observed in the checkout line at grocery stores, did remind me of a good film and introduction to transgender issues, "Transamerica," which I watched again with my girlfriend early in 2015.

Two powerful Atlanta NPR segments on WABE-FM aired, introducing the parents of a transgender child in Georgia and the many challenges they faced. The report informed me more about the concerns of a group of people including 700,000 transgender Americans (according to the national conversation introduced in the following sentence).

Like legions of other observers, I later tuned in to The Interview with Diane Sawyer in April, with the following takeaways:

-- Here is a person who is very brave. I was drawn in and agreed with Jenner's words, "I want to know how this story ends."

-- Here is a person who made some very difficult choices while looking to make smart, informed and honest decisions moving forward.

-- Here is a person who is looking to leverage his fame and influence for the better of many; I liked Jenner's words "[Now] what I'm doing is going to do some good" because his "whole life has been getting me ready for this"

-- Here's a person who is turning fear into a positive; I really dug the reference to using "fear as fire" and "finding a champion within."

-- Best line seemed to be Jenner's acknowledgement or revelation that the reality shows on which he appeared are drivel, and his frustration that "the one TRUE thing in the family that could make a positive difference [was there for the telling] and I could not talk about it."

-- Though I am generally not a Kanye West fan, it impressed me Jenner cited West for talking the most sense about Jenner's gender identity and being himself, and the extent to which it inspired West to be a better person within their family.

-- Also liked how Jenner cited transgender youth (more specifically, suicide statistics), and that although Jenner does not seek "transgender spokesperson" status, there was inspiration to "save some lives" through the transformation about to take place publicly.

Leading up to the interview, I struggled with how to write blog posts about transsexuality and its links to the Olympics via Jenner headlines.

But then I recalled previously covering the topic with Olympic ties.

Jenner's interview inspired conversations with several friends and family members, and it hit me the appearance with Sawyer worked, at least with this writer, for part of its intended purpose to inspire conversation. Each chat on the topic now seems to get easier, and here's hoping that healthy discussion will become the norm as more people gain an understanding of transgendered people.

With today's announcement introducing Caitlyn Jenner, I was excited to see teaser video for the Vanity Fair cover story hitting newsstands on June 9. Annie Leibovitz's involvement brought back my own experience working with the acclaimed photographer.

Many questions remain, with some answers anticipated next week but more to be resolved months or years from now.

As a public relations professional, I am dying to know who Jenner's publicist(s) may be (one mastermind, or an army?). The talking points they are writing are like gold, and Jenner seems to be sticking these points like an Olympic gymnast nailing the dismount.

As an Olympic fan, I wonder how Caitlyn will discuss the Munich and Montreal experiences of a two-time Olympian. And how will the U.S. Olympic Committee and International Olympic Committee reflect Caitlyn vs. Bruce in the Olympic record (at least as of June 1, 2015, the IOC still lists "Bruce" on their site while Wikipedia users already updated Jenner's page). My take on this, for now, is that Jenner's female personal preference, or name preference, should be considered, but the gender-specific results should remain male with at least a reference to "Bruce" (if only as a footnote). By letting the record show the 1976 details, that may invite conversation of choices made later in Jenner's life or what she struggled with as a champion living with a secret.

As a man learning about transgender issues, I wonder when and if Jenner will be approved for the surgeries that will change her sex organs (this is not a given, and since the Sawyer interview I suspected one or more psychologists who specialize in gender reassignment deemed Jenner's "coming out" interview and private conversations with family and friends as part of the lengthy list of mandatory requirements for surgery approval, a topic touched on in "Transamerica").

Wait, should that last line include the word womandatory?

No matter the answers, it may be inspiring to see where this Jenner story ends. And the world will not only have the uplifting Olympian accomplishments featured in "Ten for Gold" to celebrate, but also the story of her remarkable life making a difference for many.

Images via VanityFair.com, CorbisImages.com, Mirror.UK.com, Yahoo!

Museum Hopping In OKC

In Oklahoma for a few weeks to tend to some family matters, I broke away for most of Saturday to visit two great OKC museums worth a special trip for the locals and for those passing through these parts.

The first stop was the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, currently hosting the photography exhibition "Herb Ritts: Beauty and Celebrity."

Until checking out the enormous black and white prints, my only prior experience putting on the Ritts was through the purchase of Madonna's "True Blue" album for which Herb was the photographer. His images of Prince, a super model or two and a portrait of Jack Nicholson's grin enlarged by a well-placed magnifying glass also got easy recognition on the OKC gallery walls.

I liked the exhibition for the enormous images of Christopher

Reeve, Nelson Mandela, Louis Armstrong and a handful of other celebrity images.

Favorites include the more abstract or "artsy" images like "Woman in Sea," "Neith with Shadows" (both the front and back versions) and "Mask" featuring a gorgeous brunette woman hiding behind her long locks.

Though the first image of the exhibition features a diver, and there are numerous images with clearly athletic subjects mocking Greek or Roman gods and goddesses, I was surprised and a little bummed Olympic athletes don't seem to be part of Ritts' repertoire -- all those years of beauty and celebrity but no Olympians? What's up with that? Did Annie Leibovitz get a monopoly on the famous five-ringed set?

The Olympic-free status of Ritts' portfolio (I looked in every book of his work) is all the more surprising since so many of his projects had Hollywood ties. Driving away from the exhibition it puzzled me wondering "where was Herb?" during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? Oh, well.

The second museum of the day featured a trek to Persimmon Hill overlooking I-44, where an enormous statue of Buffalo Bill on horseback beckons everyone to visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

Best bets at this museum include:

• A room of Frederick Remington canvases, sketches and
  sculpture, including one bronze for which there was only one cast, and a selection of Charles Russell works
• An extensive collection of works by Charles Schreyvogel, a lesser known and extremely talented Western artist
• Western Performers gallery, including portraits by Norman Rockwell and LeRoy Neiman, details about Oklahoman Will Rogers, and memorabilia from more than a century of cowboy cinema (the mini-movie theatre documentary on the history of Westerns is well done).
• A Native American gallery on par with the Detroit Institute of Arts' similar and expansive collection
• Monumental sculptures and paintings including four Southwest weather-themed triptychs that are the biggest canvases I've ever seen.

The museum is home to the annual Prix de West competition celebrating its 40th year. On view are hundreds of contemporary Western art works, many of which are for sale. I wish my bank account had enough funds to let me take home a George Carlson landscape painting (priced like a new Volvo and worth every penny).

There's at least one Olympic connection to the Cowboy collection as President Ronald Reagan got inducted into the Hall of Fame on the eve of U.S. Olympic Festival '89 in OKC (after the induction he spoke at the Opening Ceremonies in Norman, Okla.). Of course you can learn all about Olympic level rodeo competitions in the museum as well.

And another nice surprise at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is the expansive gardens south of the main gallery buildings. From this outdoor vantage there are great views of the Buffalo Bill monument and "The End of the Trail" in the museum main entry. Y'all head on over there when you can.

Photos via Herb Ritts Foundation/OKC Museum of Art and National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Thank You, MAM -- Milwaukee Art Museum Mounts "Color Rush" Photography Exhibition

On a chilly night in southeast Wisconsin, tonight the Milwaukee Art Museum provided a warm welcome to guests who enjoyed free Thursday admission to the new exhibition "Color Rush: 75 Years of Color Photography in America."

The exhibition is a preamble to MAM's 125th Anniversary celebration set for the warmer days of spring.

"Color Rush" introduces visitors to the earliest uses of color photography, starting in the early 1900s and leap-frogging a few decades at a time. The first main exhibition room features the early 1930s photos crafted as feature magazine covers and advertising. A cover for a summer 1932 edition of Vogue popped from the walls (the closest image and timing for an Olympic-themed moment as the cover debuted when the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games launched).

My docent host (girlfriend's mother) also pointed out the vivid holiday cookie visuals shown enlarged beside the eventual use of the photograph as part of a lifestyle magazine advertisement. The exhibition has a lot of these -- fine examples, mind you -- juxtaposed with early "hard news" color photos of the Hindenburg disaster. Impressive! Another sports-related magazine cover showcased a figure skating couple in flight above an unseen ice rink. Slick!

As the exhibition advanced to the post-war years and into the 1970s, with a few sets of color slides and some Kodak history, I got that funny feeling that's hit me at other photo exhibitions. Driving home and talking about the exhibition, it hit me again, with the questions I've asked before: Why do museums decide that "art" photography requires the photographers' subjects to be destitute, drug users, or trashy? Why must "museum quality" photography appear at the dregs end, or the Architectural Digest perfect end, of the photo spectrum?

The middle ground in this exhibition featured hotel interiors, urban landscapes and other (for this blogger) ho-hum images.

I guess this is my way of saying that after the High Museum of Art exhibition "Up & Down Peachtree" (photos by Martin Parr), recent Dorothea Lange images in the news, and MAM's exhibition, I'm now tired of photos of the poor, or snapshots of "the ordinary" appearing as "art." What sealed it for me was the "behind the curtain" parental advisory slide show of brothel employees, bodybuilders and dope heads in various stages of undress. What does this have to do with the color photography process?

Fortunately, "Color Rush" includes some dramatic and (never seen by my eyes until tonight) panoramic landscapes by Ansel Adams. It was also fun to discover the surprising pumpkin patch shopper while a three-story house burned in the background in a 1970s color photo by Joel Sternfeld.

Though going to the exhibition I had no specific hopes nor expectations, it was a moderate let down that more iconic color images, or perhaps early color images from cinema, did not make the cut. In that drive home conversation, I found myself asking "what about Annie Leibovitz's landscapes and portraits?" and "what about modern color photography in National Geographic as influenced by early color images in the same or similar publications?"

Is the exhibition "Color Rush" worth a look-see? Absolutely! And the information shared in the exhibition is something I will have to keep processing to see what develops.

Photos via MAM, as well as Vogue UK and www.kpraslowicz.com

Dreamboat Annie

The rockin' sister duo Heart -- seen here with a cover shot by Annie Leibovitz circa 1980 -- has long been one of my favorite bands. I lose track -- either Heart or Don Henley provided my first outdoor rock concert experience (both played the glorious Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre during 1990), each serving as an upgrade follow-up to Janet Jackson's big show at the Myriad Convention Center that summer of 1990. Good times!

Though "Dreamboat Annie" is a great Heart tune, this blog entry is not really about music. The song's title is just a pseudo-clever starting point for another thread of Olympic connections that goes something like this:

Ann & Nancy Wilson -- Heart -- "Dreamboat Annie" -- Rolling Stone magazine -- Heart photo on cover of Rolling Stone (thanks, Google) -- cover photo by Annie Leibovitz -- Annie Leibovitz portrait photos -- Annie Leibovitz Olympic Project for Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Games -- Annie Leibovitz back in Atlanta on Dec. 10, 2008.

(The thread could also spin off, I suppose, with references to "It's A Hard-Knock Life" and such, but I digress.)

Last night in Atlanta, former Rolling Stone photographer Annie Leibovitz was in town showcasing her latest Random House book titled "Annie Leibovitz At Work" to a packed house in the cavernous main gymnasium of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta (MJCCA).

To me it was fitting that the world-famous photographer took the stage in a gym, since more than one segment of her live presentation (complete with wall-sized projections of some of her most famous photographs) referenced work with Olympic athletes.

Before delving into Leibovitz's presentation (see video), some notes about the book:

"Annie Leibovitz At Work" just hit bookstore shelves and includes 230 or so pages with about one iconic image for every three pages of text written from conversations Leibovitz shared with the book's editor, Sharon DeLano (though the text is written first person, I suspect DeLano did the lion's share of writing as, in person, Leibovitz seems to be a woman of few yet thoughtful words).

Of course, the book includes the famous images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Rolling Stones, a rose-covered Bette Midler, Meryl Streep, Whoopi Goldberg (in milk-filled bathtub), Demi Moore and Queen Elizabeth. Also featured are some stunning aerial shots of Monument Valley, dramatic war images from Sarajevo (site of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games -- one shot near the city's Olympic stadium included) and interesting family portraits that give some ideas for capturing loved ones on film during the holidays ... though none will be taken involving bathtubs full of milk). The accompanying text provides some brief or personal stories behind each image, or some general comments or tips on photographic technique. It's a fast read -- three Olympians appear (Carl Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Charles Austin).

So, back to Annie Leibovitz's presentation.

Leibovitz admitted in so many words that she is not a natural born public speaker. She shared some prepared remarks as an introduction before spending most of the event seated in a leather chair and reading directly from the text.

I was surprised and delighted that some of her most impromptu departures from the text came while describing work with nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, who she photographed just before the 1996 Games. Leibovitz used her story behind the photo to drive home two main points of the evening -- there are some shots that become part of history (capturing Lewis at his pre-Games peak as one example), and you should follow through on commitments even when you don't think you want to (she almost skipped photographing Lewis as he was not expected to medal in Atlanta -- a few weeks later he became only the third person to win nine gold medals).

What did not entirely surprise me (an explanation why begins in two paragraphs) is that Leibovitz remarked on the diversity of connections made with her portrait subjects to arrive at "the shot" -- her most vivid descriptions on this topic came while showcasing a range of photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his early career, Hollywood days and pre-political aspirations, as well as her memories of working with dancers and athletes (her new book includes notes from working with Olympic hurdler Edwin Moses that paint this picture).

Leibovitz closed the remarks by taking a few questions from the audience. I was next in line at the microphone, ready with a personal question for Annie, when she cut off the Q&A to start signing books (DANG!). Eventually, later in the evening, I did get to ask my question, "where was you photo of Olympic silver medal-winning wrestler Matt Ghaffari taken?"

Here is the back story to explain why I posed this question (Leibovitz's answer also follows):

When I was an intern at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs during the summer of 1995 (assigned to work in the public relations department at USA Wrestling), one morning I arrived at the USA Wrestling office to find a message from my boss. He said, in so many words, "There's some hot-shot photographer in town to take photos of a couple of [Atlanta Olympic-bound] wrestlers -- we need you to go with the wrestlers when the photographer comes to pick them up, and spend the day with the crew taking the photos."

As planned, a crew picked up the wrestlers (including Matt Ghaffari, an Iranian American who is one of the most genuine and coolest Olympians anywhere -- a real class act) and I to a public park with a massive green lawn and Pike's Peak looming to the west under a cloudless summer sky.

I was confused because there appeared to be two freshly placed dump truck loads of dirt -- one was sand, the other a darker clay -- recently poured on one flat expanse. The whole scene was punctuated with huge scaffolding covered with tarps, and a couple of ladders were in place. We were at the photographer's "studio" for the day. The photographer, of course, was Annie Leibovitz!

Leibovitz had a big crew and it was clear no expense was spared. Easily more than $100,000 went into this one setting as the dirt was used to create a wrestling venue inspired by ancient Olympic wrestling sites near Olympia, Greece, and the different shades of soil were trucked in to provide a range of hues for black and white Polaroids that Leibovitz started shooting as the wrestlers got going on the Terra firma.

I still have the business card for the Swatch public relations executive who was on site, presumably bankrolling the whole operation for what became Leibovitz's 1996 book titled "Olympic Portraits" (my good friend, Meghan, gave me a sweet Swatch featuring some of the photos from that book -- thanks, Meg).

Imagine my stunned surprise when, during our picnic lunch (arranged by Annie's intern and yours truly -- go, interns, go!) in the park, Leibovitz pretty much scrapped the entire "Greek dirt wrestling" set up because Ghaffari, the USA wrestler who went on to win silver in Atlanta, started telling Annie a very personal story about how as a boy his father taught him to wrestle by "pretending your opponent is a tree and you are trying to wrestle a tree out of the ground."

Leibovitz LOVED this -- you could see the wheels turning behind her tortoise-shell glasses as she asked Ghaffari to take hold of the oak trees under which we were lunching. After just a few more Polaroids we were all sent packing. Photo shoot's over, folks! So long, Annie Leibovitz.

The thing is, on that summer internship day in Colorado, I had NO CLUE -- ZERO -- who Annie Leibovitz was -- the entire day! The name did not ring a bell at all. For real. It was a day or two later, when I told a fellow intern or a family member about work that day in passing, that it finally registered "Holy Sh*t! That was that Annie Leibovitz!" I still cringe about my naïveté that day!

I also cringe because, as an intern on site at the photo shoot, I was asked to help collect all the trash and "Polaroid rejects" belched out of Annie's camera into the dirt. At one time my hands held dozens of "no good" photos staged and lost forever following Leibovitz's work on the ladders (I kick myself monthly on this point -- these shots would be extremely rare Annie Leibovitz originals now, and they are in some landfill instead of my apartment!).

I learned the following year, when the Leibovitz Olympic book debuted at an Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) press conference at The INFORUM in Atlanta, that Leibovitz wound up re-shooting Ghaffari wrestling trees at another location later in 1995. As an ACOG staff member, I was in attendance at the packed press event, and tried to pose the question at a cut-short Q&A there, too -- until yesterday it was my understanding the final Ghaffari wrestling trees portrait was snapped at Midtown Atlanta's Piedmont Park, down the street from my current residence.

The answer, after 12 years: Annie Leibovitz does not remember!

While she signed a copy of "Annie Leibovitz At Work" she answered my question with a friendly and frank reply that they did re-shoot the "wrestling trees" at a later date, but she was not sure when or where. She offered a sincere thank you and handshake during our brief reunion (she has, by the way, some of the most graceful, large and strong hands of any handshake in recent memory) she asked about Ghaffari and how he is doing, perhaps signalling that although he was not the most famous celebrity in her repertoire, a connection was made that day in Colorado Springs.

She did not remember me, so it seems we're "even" on naïveté about each other (ha-ha).

I appreciate Annie Leibovitz taking time to answer one more question -- this one for the Flip Video camera -- just after signing the last of thousands of books sold at last night's MJCCA event.

The question: Would she take on another Olympic project in the future?

The answer (see video) yielded a surprise -- Leibovitz apparently was supposed to attend the Atlanta Games but was denied access near the last minute. It's tough to read whether she remains miffed about this fact (will let you, video viewers, draw your own conclusions).

It is my hope the future will in fact bring Olympians into focus for Leibovitz's craft (if Swatch is out there reading, let's see what you can get in the works for Vancouver 2010 or London 2010, OK?).