NEWS AS ART EXHIBIT OFFERS WORKS BY CAMERAMEN, PHOTOGRAPHERS IN MEDIA.

Byline: MARK KELLAM Valley News Writer

The NoHo Gallery L.A. is celebrating ``art behind the camera'' with an exhibit featuring artwork by media professionals from television, film and print.

Fifteen photographers and artists, some from the San Fernando Valley, are taking part in the exhibit called ``The Arts of News,'' said gallery director Daniel C. DeBevoise, who was once a freelance photographer in Rome for the Associated Press and other international news organizations.

The artists participating in the NoHo Gallery L.A. exhibit include cameramen from KNBC (Channel 4), KTLA (Channel 5), KCBS (Channel 2) and KCAL (Channel 9) as well as photographers, producers and designers who work in news and advertising. ``The Art of News'' runs through Sept. 3.

The idea for the show came after DeBevoise's associate Lisa Bianconi met Scott Spiro, who was working for Channel 4 shooting footage of Olympic artist Jesse Raudales. Spiro mentioned to Bianconi the idea of having a photography show. Then Bianconi approached DeBevoise about putting together a show featuring the work of professionals in the news.

``Being a photographer myself, how could I resist?'' DeBevoise said.

So Spiro made up a flier and posted copies of it in various newsrooms in Los Angeles.

Some of the artwork is photographs, but many are paintings recreating what the photographers and cameramen have captured through their lenses over the years.

Some of the photos deal with topical issues such as the war in Iraq. Photographer Cristopher Nolasco created a three-panel painting, each panel containing a different image from the war. The left panel shows a group of Iraqi insurgents with guns raised in the air. The right panel depicts a U.S. soldier gazing over his shoulder. The middle panel shows two women, who, along with children, literally are caught in the middle of the war.

Nolasco's works are hand-drawn sketches he overlays with watercolor, pastels, charcoal, ink and graphite. He is a photographic location scout for ``Sunset Magazine,'' an architectural photographer and contributes to the Department of Cultural Affairs cultural events calendar.

Hours for ``The Art of News'' exhibit are 2-8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 1-6 p.m. Sundays.

Besides DeBevoise, Spiro and Nolasco, the other cameramen and photographers featured in ``The Arts of News'' include Bryan Frank, Byron Bernstein, Chuck Staley, Dean Fueroghne, Elke Weiss, Hasan Mahmood, Hernan Vazquez, Mike Maas, Rachel Dunn, Rony Armas, Spiro, Thom Roslan and Tom Forletta.

NoHo Gallery is at 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. For more information, call 761-7784 or visit www.nohogalleryla.com.

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Above: Photographer/artist Cristopher Nolasco used photographs he took of the war in Iraq to create this three-panel painting, above. Left: This whimsical painting of Uncle Sam walking along Hollywood Boulevard, left, was created by Scott Spiro from a photograph he took.