Photo L.A. got a new location this year, or really an old one — it's returned to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from a stint at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport — as well as a pair of high-profile hosts for its opening-night benefit: photographer David LaChapelle and actor/photographer Chris Lowell.

The fair's 35 or so exhibitors included Los Angeles dealers Lapis Press, DNJ Gallery, Robert Berman Gallery, and Photo L.A.'s producer Stephen Cohen's self-named gallery as well as international galleries such as Galeria Sicart (Spain), Queensland Centre (Australia), Gallery Suite 59 (Netherlands), and MR Gallery (Beijing).

The benefit, held last Thursday, raised money for the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA, and also served as a preview for the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA)'s exhibition "Changing the Focus: Latin American Photography (1990–2005)," curated by Idurre Alonso. A selection of works was displayed during the fair, which ended Sunday; the exhibition will re-open in its museum incarnation in February.

Click on the image at left to view pictures of the fair and the attendees at Photo L.A. 's 2010 preview benefit.