BIG SHOTS PHOTO L.A. NOT YOUR TYPICAL PICTURE SHOW.

Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer

A good photograph can put the world into focus. Imagine what a few thousand might do.

Chances are you'll find a new angle on life during the year's largest annual local photo event, Photo L.A., an exhibit covering everything from the earliest 19th-century still photo experiments to today's pictures and photo-based art.

The sprawling show inhabits the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium starting Friday for three days, taking in 80 galleries and private dealers presenting top international and domestic artists - famous photogs like Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, Larry Fink, Robert Frank, Joel Peter-Witkin, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson, plus vintage pieces by Man Ray, Josef Sudek, Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange.

``Every art fair has its own personality, but ours offers a mix of work both historical and contemporary from all over the world,'' said Stephen Cohen, the veteran art fair producer who has helmed Photo L.A. for 14 years.

Last year's exhibit attracted more than 7,500 visitors, including collectors, curators, and professional and amateur shutterbugs. Before daily hours begin, the event opens with a reception Thursday night benefiting the Photographic Arts Council of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In addition to the gallery shows, a lecture and seminar series gathers guest speakers from all corners of the art world.

Some images are unexpectedly intriguing. Take, for example, Brian Finke's lively examination of the inner life of American high-school cheerleaders. His numerically titled prints of girls engaged in pom-poms, backbends and pyramids - first collected in his book ``2-4-6-8: American Cheerleaders and Football Players'' (Umbrage Editions; $35) - will surely be a popular attraction at Photo L.A.

``The pictures address a lot of different things - identity, behavior, sexuality - a number of teen issues,'' Finke, 26, said. ``It's a school year's worth of practice ending up as a 90-second routine. It's very concentrated. Working on the project was a blast.''

After the curtain falls on Photo L.A., the seaside civic auditorium hosts artLA, the largest contemporary art fair to hit town in a decade. Also produced by Cohen, the Jan. 27-30 event sees emerging galleries presenting new art and new media in the avant-garde tradition.

``It's time Los Angeles had a large fair devoted to contemporary art since so many significant artists make their home here,'' Cohen said, adding that increasing numbers of critics have declared L.A. the best place to find the most vital new artists and galleries.

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

PHOTO L.A.

Where: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St., Santa Monica.

When: Noon to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Jan. 23.

Tickets: $20 to $30. Call [phone] or go to photola.com. Thursday's opening benefit reception is $50 at the door or in advance by calling [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``Alli, Annie, Hanna and Berit, all 13 before the first big party of the seventh grade; Edina, Minn., 1998'' by Lauren Greenfield

(2 -- color) ``Lilac, 2003'' by Tracey Snelling

(3 -- color) ``Untitled (Cheerleading No. 19), 2001'' by Brian Finke.