Join guest curator, Larry Lytle, as he leads a walk-through of Laguna Art Museum’s newest exhibition Photography & Seduction: William Mortensen’s Laguna Beach. Get an in-depth look at the show while also learning about one of photography’s pioneers, William Mortensen. Mortensen was a maverick photographer and despised by many of his contemporaries for his grotesque subject matter and extreme manipulation of his photographs. The exhibition aims to share Mortensen’s contributions to and influence on American photography, while also sharing his connection to Laguna Beach.

Larry Lytle is a fine artist, award winning commercial artist, author, photography collector and lecturer at California State University Channel Islands. Lytle graduated from California State University Northridge with B.A.s in Speech Communication and Political Science and a M.A. in Art.

Lytle has been a contributing writer for Black & White Magazine for the past 10 years. Most notably Lytle is known for his scholarship and writing on the life and work of American photographer William Mortensen. Lytle contributed to The Center for Creative Photography’s 1999 seminal book William Mortensen: A Revival. In 2014 he co-edited and wrote biographical essays for widely reviewed books American Grotesque: The Life and Work of William Mortensen and The Command To Look: A Master Photographer’s Methods For Controlling the Human Gaze, both published by Feral House.

Lytle has taught photography at The Otis Evening College of Art and Design, Los
Angeles, California from 2000 – 2005 and then at California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo,
California as a lecturer in the Art Department where he has developed the photography curriculum and has
taught from 2003 to the present.

Lytle is a native Angeleno where he lives with his wife Jeanie and dog Bettie.

Advance tickets recommended.

Museum members: $7
Non-members: $14