The 20th annual “photo l.a. 2001 + artLA projects” show will bring together photography galleries and artists from around the world from Thursday, Jan. 13 through 17. The event is organized by Stephen Cohen, of the Stephen Cohen Gallery on Beverly Boulevard, and will be held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

A photo of Ella Fitzgerald by Herman Leonard will be featured at the photo l.a. show. The photo is from “Listen: Herman Leonard and his World of Jazz”. (photo courtesy of 21st Editions)

This year, photo l.a. joins with artLA projects to form an ongoing, citywide program of innovative installations, exhibitions, seminars and conversations with established and cutting-edge artists. The show will include examples of contemporary photography and video, as well as photo-based installations and masterworks from the 19th Century. The artLA projects offerings are a prelude to a much larger, artLA 2011, a new art fair to be held in September.

Programming for “photo l.a. 2001 + artLA projects” will include a panel discussion with photographer Stephen Shore examining the “La Brea Matrix”, an exploration of the cross-cultural exchange between art photographers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean that examines the iconic power of a photograph Shore took on the corner of La Brea Avenue and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles on June 21, 1975.

The show will also include collecting seminars with Chrissy Crawford Malone, of www.artstar.com and www.littlecollector.com; Weston Naef, founding curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum Department of Photography; and W.M. Hunt, a New York-based collector, curator and consultant. Also included will be panel discussions and conversations with Jean Michel Cousteau, Manfred Heiting, Arthur Ollman, Alex Klein, Amy Arbus and Jeff Sheng, as well as book signings and lectures with photographers Uta Barth, Zoe Crosher, Lyle Ashton Harris, Ron Jude, Michael Light, Andrew Moore and others. Other offerings at photo l.a. include a meet-and-greet session with Joey L., whose distinctive style of photography is showcased in the “Twilight” film posters.

Programming for artLA projects will include an exclusive screening of artist David Wojnarowicz’s 1987 video, “A Fire in My Belly”, which was censored last November by the Smithsonian because a 15-second portion of the 13-minute video was deemed too obscene and anti-Christian by Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough.

There will also be a Family Book Store presentation of “Segments of Orange”, a group exhibition curated by Emily Sills and David Kramer with works by Brian Roettinger, Christopher Michlig, Tim Presley and Ryan Sambol. A video lounge, curated by Paul Young, will feature a four-day program of works by emerging and well-known video artists including Sergio Prego, Wood & Harrison, Henry Coombes, Michel Huelin, Sari Carel, Audri Phillips and several others. Dawn of Man and Nic Rad will offer performances and installations, curated by TS+ Projects, depicting a variety of looping scenes and short character vignettes.

There will also be a child-friendly lounge from Little Collector, which works with leading contemporary artists to produce limited edition prints from luminaries such as Kenny Scharf, Shepard Fairey, Cynthia Rowley and others.

Photo l.a. 2011 + artLA projects will take place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St.

For information, visit the websites www.photola.com or www.artla.net.