ASTORIA — LightBox Photographic Gallery will host an artist talk by senior Reuters photographer Robert Galbraith from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday evening, Sept. 3. Galbraith will present a talk and slide show on his current artistic work, tentatively titled “An American Portrait.”

For more than 35 years Galbraith has been a wire photographer and is now senior photographer for Reuters pictures based in San Francisco. He has covered top news, sports and political stories: Super Bowls, Olympics, the Oscars, golf championships, Hurricane Katrina, the Los Angeles riots, space shuttle landings and major disasters. The list is virtually endless.

“Two years ago I set out to maintain the tradition of some of the original masters of black and white photography, making pictures on the move of people and events throughout the United States,” Galbraith said. “Having been heavily influenced by the work of Robert Frank, who spent three years traveling the United States to produce his book, ‘The Americans,’ I decided to follow a path set by him and a number of other photographers in looking at America, as I see it.”

Galbraith’s “An American Portrait” doesn’t have a grand plan; it merely aims to visit a sample of the country and provide an observation of American life.

“Our digital world in the news business is built for speed,” Galbraith said. “In our current age of digital photography, and with our attachment to immediacy, my intent is to create a body of work that adheres to yesterday’s ‘technology’ in modern times. As a way of slowing down in my work, I’m carrying on a tradition established by photographers who knew nothing of the world of auto focus, auto exposure, motor drives, or viewing a photograph on the back of a digital camera, regaining a photographic style that had been elusive for years due to constant technological advancements and changes.”

Contact the gallery to reserve seating for this artist talk at 503-468-0238 or at info@lightbox-photographic.com. LightBox is located at 1045 Marine Drive.