Alexandra Hedison’s exhibition “Ithaka” kicked off a month long celebration of photography in Los Angeles, brought to you by the same people responsible for the Lucie Awards – photography’s version of the Academy Awards. “The Month of Photography Los Angeles” is an ambitious project bringing exhibitions, lectures, and workshops to a wide ranging audience. Co-founder Hossein Farmani was on hand Saturday to see his vision become a reality. A life-long lover of photography and one of its biggest patrons and dealers, Farmani says he created MOPLA to showcase the great photographers working in Southern California.

Alexandra Hedison brought star power to opening night. An accomplished actress as well as photographer, her exhibit attracted some Hollywood big-wigs – Halle Barry, Matthew Perry and Jaime Lee Curtis, just to name a few. Access Hollywood was even there recording the festivities. The A-list crowd sipped cocktails during a VIP, invitation only pre-party. The exhibit opened up to the public at 7:00.

“Ithaka” is the culmination of years of work for Hedison. Building on the success of her previous series “(Re)building,” Hedison says she looked to continue her journey of self discovery which took her to the rain forest in the Pacific Northwest. She is adamant and vocal about the fact that this series is “not about trees,” but rather a metaphor for growth. The title comes from a poem by C.P. Cavafy:

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the journey may be long,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the journey may be long.
May there be many a summer morning
when with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn, and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Hedison opened “Ithaka” in London and  in New York in October. She says having the exhibit “come home” to Los Angeles is extremely gratifying. And as much as she loves acting, she says photography is her true passion.

Written by: Erin Clark