‘Tracks’ photographer Rick Smolan’s parallel journey across outback

It’s often cited as one of the most memorable National Geographic magazine covers: May 1978, a young woman with sun-bleached hair raises a battered metal bucket to the mouth of a camel that appears to be nuzzling her cheek. The image is at once exotic, sweet and more than a bit curious. Who is that woman? Where is she? And what is she doing?

Only one of those questions is answered by the headline: “Alone Across the Outback.”

The “who” was Robyn Davidson, then 27. The “what” was a nine-month, 1,700-mile trek across Australia with little more than four camels and a dog named Diggity.

And the man behind the camera? That was Rick Smolan, whose parallel journey is the subject of an exhibition at the Annenberg Space for Photography opening Oct 3. “Inside Tracks: Behind the Lens on the Assignment of a Lifetime” blends Smolan’s photography with clips from the recently released feature film “Tracks,” in which Mia Wasikowska plays Davidson and Adam Driver plays Smolan in a dramatization of that trek.

The Annenberg exhibition, staged in the Los Angeles museum’s Skylight Studios, uses high-definition screens to showcase Smolan’s original photographs for National Geographic as well as additional pictures from his books, including the forthcoming “Inside Tracks: Robyn Davidson’s Solo Journey Across the Outback.” A new short documentary film in which Smolan and Davidson share recollections of their journey is part of the exhibit too, as is a giant map plotting Davidson’s route. QR codes embedded in the map and scannable by phone might trigger Smolan’s voice recounting an outback adventure, a snippet of his trip journal or a photo tip revealing how he landed a particular shot.

Smolan, who also co-founded the “Day in the Life” series of photography books, will give a free lecture at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2; the exhibition, also free, runs through Feb. 1. For information or lecture reservations: (213) 403-3000, www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org

Twitter: @cnakano