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September 5, 2008

OU Gaylord College hosts photo exhibit of American Presidents

By Julianna Parker

Photos of U.S. presidents during crises and calm will be shown at Gaylord Hall on the University of Oklahoma campus starting Monday.

"The American President," an exhibit of news photos from the Associated Press, will be on view at the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma through Oct. 3.

The exhibit will be on display in the ground floor commons area of the Gaylord College. Admission to the exhibit is free and will be available whenever the building is open. The building is closed on Saturdays except for home football games when the building opens two hours prior to kickoff.

Gaylord College Director of Communications Celia Perkins said the college is especially excited to have the exhibition at this time because it will be on display for both the annual Journalism and Mass Communication Week and the annual JayMac alumni banquet.

The display is a traveling exhibit from the Associated Press designed to coincide with the current presidential election cycle.

The display shows American presidents at war and at ease, in victory and in defeat, confronting national crises and facing personal scandals, running for office and leading the country on the world stage, according to a press release from Gaylord College.

"The American President" features a number of the AP's Pulitzer Prize-winning images, including Paul Vathis' view of John F. Kennedy conferring gravely with his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, at Camp David after the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961; Ron Edmonds' rapid sequence documenting the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan; and White House photos taken by J. Scott Applewhite and others during Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment battle.

"The American President" includes memorable shots from the AP Images photo library, which contains more than 10 million film and digital images, including pictures taken in this year's run for the White House by Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama, the press release said.

The more than 80 photos that make up the exhibit underscore the need for the AP photojournalists assigned to cover the White House always to keep their eyes on the president, so they won't miss those revealing, unexpected moments that could easily dominate thousands of front pages and Web sites around the world, the release said.

For more information, visitors may call 325-5372 or go to www.ou.edu/gaylord.

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

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