A picture is worth a thousand words. For venerable sports photojournalists Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer, a photo is more than the possibility of a thousand words – it is a frozen frame, the image telling the story of motioned poets in a pinnacle moment of his or her story in the midst of spectacled competition.

Iooss and Leifer have amassed quite a body of work of some of the biggest names in world of sports during their award-winning careers, capturing the intricate body motions of some of the most envied human beings to grace this place we call Planet Earth.

One has to wonder if men such as Iooss and Leifer existed during the peak of the Roman Empire, whether they could have visually painted the greatest tales of all time about warrior-like gladiators risking their lives to satisfy a blood-thirsty populace flocking to the era’s behemoth fighting arenas in the name of competitive sport.

Alas, these two visual maestros are sharing their masterpieces with us here in the 21st century, providing us with a sliver of a story told over the course of games and sporting seasons, mixing it up with powerful still images of some of the greatest moments in sport.

For those of us enjoying the picturesque warm weather here in Southern California, we do not have to travel far to revel in the art that is the sports photography of Iooss and Leifer. We just have to travel to the Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City, where a display of nearly 80 of Iooss and Leifers’ photographs opened to the public on November 14th.

What makes this exhibition so uniquely great is that Iooss and Leifer’s talented eyes delivered to our pupils something even the most ignorant of sports fans can appreciate – an unadulterated reality of the fleeting moments of competitive athleticism — a gripping tale that is simultaneously raw and beautiful.

The stories told are not of winning or losing, but of humanity.

It is not about being a sports hero but about the hard work and talent that makes even the casual observer stand in awe of how one human being can create art by challenging the limits of his or her body.

If sports are poetry in motion, Iooss and Leifer relied on their equipment – and their trained eyes – to freeze that motion at the right time, creating an eternally still image that is infinitely more poetic than the athletic act itself.

Some of these poetic images are forever grained in our heads as stories told that are greater than the sport or athlete captured on film.

For example, there is Leifer’s ever-so-popular shot of Muhammad Ali towering over a debilitated Sonny Liston in the famous First Round, First Minute bout in 1965. Oh, and Iooss’s frozen frame of Tiger Woods teeing off amidst dissipating morning fog at Orlando’s Windmere Golf Club is quite the memorable portrait.

There are still others that are familiar to Sports Illustrated readers, such as a black-and-white head-shoulder-and-chest shot of Michael Jordan taken by Iooss the year the pro-basketballer won his final professional championship as a player.

Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was captured by Iooss at a Baltimore pool in 2004, the poignant swimmer sporting just a pair of Speedos, swim goggles and head gear as he leans forward with his arms clasped together above his head, preparing to dive into the water and conquer the pool.

In another “starting pose” photo taken by Iooss in Miami, Serena Williams dons a one-piece white bathing suit, arms at her waists and elbow locked in a V-shape as she looks off in the distance with an air of self-confidence, her body dominating the center of a blue-themed portrait complete with a eerily cloudy sky and a chlorine-filled pool barely making itself present and a diving board off in the distance.

Also on display are photos of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw sporting a gleeful smile with a missing front right tooth in 1971, as well as Michelle Kwan posing for Iooss on the rooftop of a Manhattan building.

Collectively, the nearly 80 photos on display at the Annenberg Space for Photography are the most awe-inspiring photos one can imagine witnessing in one location, with the ultimate exhibition of poetry-in-motion captured on paper like lightning in a bottle.

Whether you are an avid sports fan, a lover of all things photography, a connoisseur of art, or just a casual observer, there is no story that cannot be appreciated at this ongoing free exhibit, no shortage of ultimate beauty as seen through the eyes of Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer.

Entitled “Sport, Iooss & Leifer,” the exhibition is currently up and running at the Annenberg Space for Photography located at 2200 Avenue of the Stars in Century City; hours of operation are Wednesday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The exhibition runs through March 7th; general admission is free.