The Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a historical photo exhibit on display aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor that opened on March 1.
What started as scheduling the PPAGLA Annual Awards dinner inside the Queen’s Salon, turned into an invitation from the Queen Mary staff for a three-month-long photo exhibit aboard the ship.
Bob Riha, president of the PPAGLA, said, “Before we had even nailed our first nail on the wall, the Queen Mary people re-approached us and said, ‘Hey, would you guys mind extending this until the end of May?'”
Riha said extending the exhibit until the end of May would allow both groups to share a 75th anniversary.
May would mark the 75th year since the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary.
With logistics out of the way, Riha needed physical prints of the images to be prepared for the exhibit.
“It would not have been possible without our sponsors, which are a very important element in our association,” stated Riha.
The sponsors included Univision, The Queen Mary, Canon, The Port of Long Beach and Samy’s Camera.
The gallery is located on the sun deck of the Queen Mary.
It consists of four sections with photograph prints on display, as well as two 42-inch televisions.
One television is showing a video of PPAGLA members, while the other television has a continuous slideshow of entries not displayed on the walls.
Carlos Velasquez, born and raised in Los Angeles, viewed the photographs on display in the gallery on his first time aboard the Queen Mary.
Velasquez said, “To me, it was a little surreal, kind of thinking like past and now present coming in, kind of like passing the torch,” while he described a picture that stood out to him, of President Obama and former President George W. Bush greeting each other.
“There was some friction; you could tell there was friction between the two men,” Velasquez added.
Victoria Escalante and her granddaughter, Jules Bell, both from Santa Clara, Calif., took time to attend the exhibit during their visit.
Escalante expressed a great interest in history from World War II until the present.
“I wanted to see what has been saved and captured, so that myself and other generations can come and view and get a better understanding of our history,” she said.
Bell said she was saddened by a photo of Robert Kennedy lying on the ground after being shot.
“I just looked at it really quickly and walked away, but I think it is a good thing to have it in there, so people can remember, and if you don’t know it, so people can learn.”
