IMAGE CONSCIOUS THE GETTY GIVES VAST PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION A PLACE TO CALL HOME.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Time and space.

It's an eternal conundrum that most of us struggle with daily, but for Weston Naef, the J. Paul Getty Museum's curator of photography, it has a particular meaning.

For 22 years he has helped grow the museum's photography collection into one of the best in the world. There are now more than 30,000 individual prints, plus thousands in albums and other objects in the Getty's archives.

However, the museum's exhibition space was relatively small, meaning most of the photographs would never see the light of day.

Then along came Michael Brand, who took over as the museum's director earlier this year. Even before he assumed the post, Brand says, he decided to expand the photography gallery space.

The result is an inviting 7,000-square-foot area, which is more than four times the size of the previous gallery and one of the largest spaces in the world devoted to photography.

When showing the gallery a week before its Oct. 23 opening, Naef enthused that ``after all the to-ings and fro-ings of directors, the result is that we finally got a wonderful space.''

Brand adds that the gallery ``is the most important change at the Getty Center since it opened in 1997.''

With polished wood floors and walls alternating in shades of pale blue and green, the space lures you in with its series of rooms linked in a diagonal design. Half-walls, giving it a maze-like quality, prevent you from seeing to the end of the rooms, but the glimpses are intriguing.

In opening the gallery, the Getty has come up with an exhibition that matches the breadth of the new space -- ``Where We Live: Photographs From the Berman Collection,'' curated by Judith Miller and Anne Lacoste.

``This is a rare case where I don't get to do the fun work. I only got the thankless work, I guess,'' jokes Naef.

Reflections of modernity

``Where We Live'' is an expansive look at America in the last part of the 20th century. It contains nearly 170 works from 24 living artists.

Living is the operative word here. The Getty mandate is to display artwork prior to the 20th century, with photography among the exceptions. Even the museum's last photography show featured works of dead artists, officials noted wryly.

``This new center will also allow this collection to keep growing as well as show more contemporary works,'' says Brand.

What will strike even the the most casual observer about the photographs in ``Where We Live'' is their familiarity -- and not necessarily because any of the works are that well-known.

The subjects are people and places -- undistinguished dwellings, curious rooms, hardened workers, happy campers -- we have seen many times before but probably never looked at closely.

``These are people who make up the unheard voices in America,'' says Sheron Rupp about her photographs. ``I don't mean that in a political way. I just feel that we need a description of other people's lives and where they live.''

Her words might have been spoken by any of the other exhibition artists.

Beauty of the ordinary

So, while ``Where We Live'' may seem about the ordinary, the artists have found something soulful in their subjects, giving them a vibrancy. It's like the girl we never thought was beautiful, until she took her glasses off -- only, with these photographs, we've been given glasses to put on.

For instance, there's an unexpected poignancy to Rupp's ``Trudy in Annie's Sunflower Maze,'' which shows an elderly woman walking among towering flowers. (A blown-up version of the photograph adorns the entrance to the exhibition.)

Then there's Mitch Epstein's melancholy ``Family Business'' series chronicling the demise of his parents' company in a New England town.

Adam Bartos' shots of a campground on Long Island, N.Y., taken through netting, have an almost impressionistic quality.

William Eggleston, who says that he never plans on documenting things -- ``it just happens'' -- has his series of ``Memphis,'' taken in the '60s. It arrestingly captures a bygone era in the form of a woman in a pink dress, photographed from behind, with a French roll hairdo and a cigarette jutting from her fingers.

There's much more, of course, and the gallery allows you time and space to linger and think about the works -- and America. And we can expect more.

``We think of each of our shows as an opportunity to make known the permanent collection,'' says Naef.

During the gallery's opening, the ebullient Naef was also feeling a bit philosophical.

``Photographs,'' he noted, ``... are the most effective way of stopping time.''

Rob Lowman, [phone]

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WHERE WE LIVE

What: A photography exhibition of some 170 works reflecting America in the latter part of the 20th century.

Where: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Drive, Los Angeles.

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Monday. Through Feb. 25.

Tickets: Free. Parking is $8. [phone]. www.getty.edu.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Getty's curator of photography, Weston Naef, above, in front of ``Love Canal, NY, April 1994,'' by Joel Sternfeld, oversees final preparations for the opening of the museum's ``Where We Live'' exhibit.

(2 -- color) At left, ``Hither Hills State Park, Montauk, New York'' (1991-94) by Adam Bartos.

(3 -- color) Below, ``From the Los Alamos Portfolio'' (1965-68) by William Eggleston.

(4 -- color) Above, ``Trudy in Annie's Sunflower Maze, Amherst, Massachusetts'' (2000) by Sheron Rupp.

(5 -- color) At right, ``Flag 2000'' (2000) by Mitch Epstein.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer