About the Exhibition
Amid a comprehensive collection of photographs spanning 25 years, photographer Diana Walker has captured the essence of historic moments, bringing the public face to face with such important notable figures as American presidents, foreign dignitaries, and political activists. From October 15, 2005, through January 8, 2006, the NCSU Libraries is hosting Diana Walker: Photojournalist, a traveling exhibition featuring 83 selected photographs from her career. Covers and page layouts from Time and other magazines document the transformation of individual photographs into iconic publishing moments. Installed on the mezzanine of the D. H. Hill Library, the exhibition is free and open to the public.
Produced by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the exhibition takes a look at candid moments in the lives of five American presidents and other prominent individuals of the past three decades. Walker's images will be familiar to many viewers: President Nelson Mandela of South Africa showing the Clintons the cell he occupied for years at the Robben Island Prison; Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev having tea in 1985; and Tipper and Al Gore kissing at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.
An award-winning photographer, Diana Walker began her career as a freelancer before joining the ranks of Time magazine's staff, assigned to cover the White House from the Ford administration in 1976 to the last day of Bill Clinton's second term in 2001. Her journey in pictures took her on the campaign trail with presidential hopefuls, behind the scenes with the First Families, and around the world.
A pioneering woman in what continues to be a predominantly male profession, Walker possesses not only superb camera skills, but also the confidence and the diplomacy needed to gain the trust of her subjects. The exhibition includes descriptions, in her own words, of the circumstances surrounding the events depicted and her impressions of her subjects.
Earlier this year, the NCSU Libraries hosted another SITES exhibition focusing on a single photographer's work, Vietnam: Journey of the Heart - Photographs by Geoffrey Clifford, 1985-2000. The Libraries presented a major photojournalism exhibit in the fall of 2003 that was recognized by local newspapers as being among the "Ten Best Art Exhibits of 2003" and "the best traveling show to come through the Triangle in recent memory." Hundreds of thousands of visitors came to see The Pulitzer Prize Photographs: Capture the Moment, which was developed by the Newseum in association with Business of Entertainment, Inc.
