Jennifer Watts is curator of photographs at the Huntington Library. Before participating in a panel on how images of L.A. influenced the rest of the world, she confessed in the green room that she’s a Lady Gaga fan, an advocate of the digital age-and that she’s quite careful when it comes to cooking bacon.
Q. What breakfast cereal mascot do you like best?
A. Tony the Tiger.
Q. What photographer is most overrated?
A. That is so unfair. I take the fifth.
Q. Why is parking at the Huntington such a pain in the neck?
A. You haven’t been to the Huntington lately. It’s getting out that’s hard.
Q. What was the golden age of Los Angeles?
A. The 1880s.
Q. What is your guiltiest musical pleasure?
A. Lady Gaga.
Q. What is the most common misconception about photographs?
A. That they’re truth tellers. They’re not.
Q. What’s the hardest thing about being a curator?
A. The low pay.
Q. Have you ever bribed a public official?
A. No.
Q. How do you feel about this being recorded on digital camera?
A. I’m a big advocate of the digital age.
Q. How respectful are you of the speed limit?
A. It depends who’s asking.
Q. What’s the best television show of the 1970s?
A. The Brady Bunch.
Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A. Never fry bacon in the nude.
*Photo by Sarah Rivera.