UM museum hosts Pulitzer Prize photographs

The largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs ever shown in the United States will open Friday, Aug. 7, at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture and the Gallery of Visual Arts at The University of Montana.

“Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs” features more than 143 color and black-and-white photographs of some of the world’s most iconic images. Included are a huge variety of photographs of pivotal moments in history, politics, sports, war and much more.

The exhibition will be at MMAC’s Paxson and Meloy galleries, located in the Performing Arts and Radio-Television Center at UM, and at the Gallery of Visual Arts, located on the first floor of the University’s Social Science Building, through Friday, Oct. 23.

The large-scale prints of the winning photographs will be organized chronologically, beginning in MMAC’s Meloy Gallery, then proceeding to the museum’s Paxson Gallery, and finally ending with the most current images in the Gallery of Visual Arts.

Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945, Babe Ruth’s retirement in 1948, and the attacks on the World Trade Center are just some of the many historic moments from around the world captured on film.

Robert H. Jackson’s 1963 photo of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald is one indelible image from the exhibition. Another is a family’s unbridled joy in greeting a father returning from a prisoner of war camp in 1973.

Only two Pulitzer Prizes are given to the millions of photographs seen in newspapers each year — one for spot or breaking news and the other for feature photography. The winning photographs may be black-and-white or color and may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album. The UM exhibition features every Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph since 1942, the first year the prize was awarded.

MMAC will host the following events in conjunction with the exhibition:

• 5-8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 7: Opening reception. MMAC Paxson and Meloy galleries and Gallery of Visual Arts.

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26: “Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs,” the award-winning documentary film that chronicles six Pulitzer Prize images. University Center Theater.

• 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3: Michel duCille, two-time Pulitzer winner and assistant managing editor for photography at The Washington Post, will give a talk entitled, “Modern Media: A Photojournalist’s Vision for the Future,” as part of the President’s Lecture Series at UM. Montana Theatre, PAR/TV Center.

• 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21: “Photos that Move and Speak: The Decisive Moment Extended,” a lecture given by photojournalist David Leeson, formerly of the Dallas Morning News, current Executive Producer of Protégé Films, Dallas, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer for breaking news. University Center Theater.

• 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14: A lecture by Cyma Rubin, curator of the Pulitzer exhibition and president of the Business of Entertainment Inc., followed by the film “Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs.” University Center Theater.

MMAC and the Gallery of Visual Arts will extend normal hours of operation for the run of the exhibition, Aug. 7-Oct. 23. Special extended hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturdays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

There is no charge for admission, and free parking is available near the northwest corner of the PAR/TV Center.

For more information, call 406-243-2019 or go to MMAC’s Web site at http://www.umt.edu/montanamuseum.