Malibu Seen / By Kim Devore

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Malibu’s Tiffany Trenda helped make this year’s photo la a snappy success. Photo by Devon Meyers

PICTURE PERFECT

Photo la may have moved back to its smaller venue at the Santa Monica Civic, but that didn’t stop the awe-inspiring event from being as successful as ever. Every excursion to this photo extravaganza is an adventure, and this year was no exception.

Malibu’s Tiffany Trenda had cameras clicking as she talked about her latest piece of performance art. “It’s all about narcissism,” she explained. “It explores the world of Facebook and the Internet and how that’s turning us into another person.”

For fashionistas, there were glossy supermodels galore from Willem Photographic. The Monterey Gallery, which specializes in fashion photography, had an impressive line up of famous faces. From Marlene Dietrich brooding in a classic men’s tux, to Giselle Bundchen dressed as an Indian chief, the snaps were sensational.

Shalom Harlow was captured in a clingy slip dress posing canal side in Venice, while Eva Herzigova played a cabaret singer on the beach, complete with a bentwood chair, fishnet stockings and a top hat.

With names like Penn, Horst and Helmut Newton, the artists behind the camera were as famous as their subjects.

Photographer Peter Eckert, meantime, was busy setting up his eye-catching display. Unless you caught a glimpse of his loyal seeing-eye dog, Bunny, you’d never guess this creative shutterbug was blind. His pieces are bright, edgy and modern. How does a blind man pull it off? “I see it in my mind,” Eckert said. “I have a laser pointer and LED lights. I’ll scratch a negative with different colors for different effects.” Once a novelty, blind photographers like Eckert even have their own guild. “Disabled people were kind of segregated,” he says. “We want to compete with everyone else. It’s not about if you are blind. It’s about whether you can do the work. That’s our goal.”

Photo buffs made the rounds sipping martinis and snacking on chicken curry and crostini. Style statements were all around. There were Manolos, flip flops, glitzy Elton John glasses, army jackets, Nehru jackets, berets, Berkin bags, heck- they wore everything but Snuggies.

Although photo la showcases images from around the world, one of this year’s highlights came from local artist Mark Laita. This talented portrait artist displayed his subjects side by side, in unlikely pairs: A burly black boxer with a head full of curlers in the Bronx is paired with a wrinkled old woman smoking a cigarette and sporting the same look at a Culver City dive.

A tough looking brotherhood of Hell’s Angeles in Oakland is matched with a group of innocent altar boys in Boston. Then there’s the creepy sight of a shackled and heavily tattooed white supremacist on his way to Death Row. The enormous portrait is paired with an equally enormous bible-carrying black Baptist grandma dressed in her Sunday best.

“These are all diptychs,” explained gallery owner Ken Devlin. “They are only sold together but may have been taken years apart. Mark finds his subjects from all over and he’ll wait years to get them. He’ll wait as long as it takes.”

So whether it’s phenomenal portraits, edgy abstracts, or breathtaking supermodels, when it comes to photo la, every picture tells a story.

Got a hot happening or cool event? Send the 411 to kimdevore@malibutimes.com.