A collection of two hundred photographs spans the first two decades of the renowned photographer's career and includes portraits of Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, David Lynch, and many others.
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer whose style is marked by a close collaboration between the photographer and the subject.
Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children in a Jewish family. Her mother was a modern dance instructor, while her father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force. The family moved frequently with her father's duty assignments, and she took her first pictures when he was stationed in the Philippines.
In high school, she became interested in various artistic endeavours, and began to write and play music. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute. She became interested in photography after taking pictures when she lived in the Philippines, where her Air Force father was stationed during the Vietnam War. For several years, she continued to develop her photography skills while she worked various jobs, including a stint on a kibbutz Amir in Israel for several months in 1969.
When Leibovitz returned to America in 1970, she worked for the recently launched Rolling Stone magazine. In 1973, publisher Jann Wenner named Leibovitz chief photographer of Rolling Stone. Leibovitz worked for the magazine until 1983, and her intimate photographs of celebrities helped define the Rolling Stone look.
In 1975, Leibovitz served as a concert-tour photographer for The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas.
Since 1983, Leibovitz has worked as a featured portrait photographer for Vanity Fair.
Leibovitz sued Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement of her Vanity Fair cover photograph of a pregnant Demi Moore from a 1991 issue titled "More Demi Moore." Paramount had commissioned a parody photograph of Leslie Nielsen, pregnant, for use in a promotional poster for the 1994 comedy Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. The case, Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., has become an important fair use case in U.S. copyright law. At trial, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York found that Paramount's use of the photo constituted fair use because parodies were likely to generate little or no licensing revenue. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed.
This beautiful book contains 200 photographs done by the amazing Annie Leibovitz in the early years of her career.
Included in this book are black and white and color photos of major celebrities, including (but not limited to) John Lennon, The Grateful Dead, Richard Pryor, The Rolling Stones, Muhammad Ali, Greg Louganis, Michael Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. As you can see, they cover many different vocations, not limited to Hollywood stars. There are also very touching photos of everyday people, including a Christmas photo she took at Soledad Prison in California.
As someone who has studied photography and has been an avid photographer since her childhood (in the stone age :D using an old Brownie camera), I greatly enjoyed studying each photo in this book. Be aware if you are sensitive, Annie does include tasteful nudes in this publication.
Disappointing after perusing latest collection. Expressiveness is missing along with emotional capture. Decidedly documentary feel to majority of portraits. Classic photos but lacking intimancy of latest work.
I was a little surprised that I really liked Leibowitz's work -- I mean, of course I knew I liked some of her pictures, but it was more her fame than her photos that I had an impression of. What I liked the most was how human the people looked. I especially liked the earlier black and white, less constructed-looking ones. I think photography is a tricky "art" in some ways it feels like it is so everyday that it is, - everyday. But then, in other ways it can be so very special - and often the everyday is actually what makes that so.
I admit, I'm conflicted about both AL and her photography. She's brilliant as a photographer and several world famous images are hers. However, she's reputed to be difficult to work with, and some of her images are simply re-works of famous works of art. And she's very good at self-promotion. I suspect that she is a typical of many gifted people, producing a great product but nobody you would want to know personally. An example would be her photographs of Queen Elizabeth. The photoshoot was very difficult for the Queen, but the final images were terrific. (I saw the originals at the National Portrait Gallery in London and found them absolutely fascinating) But I also couldn't help remembering that it was reported the Queen had been made to feel uncomfortable and defensive and wondered if that was necessary. After all, the woman is in her 80's and perhaps a gentler approach might have worked just as well.
This was kind of an odd collection of photographs, but despite the disparity and random organization it did a decent job of showcasing Leibovitz's work and photographic style. I didn't recognize the majority of the people whose photos were included, since I'm not familiar with American politics pre-1990 and even my celebrity knoweldge is spotty that far back, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the photos themselves. Leibovitz clearly has a unique viewpoint, and her work is always interesting, if not quite as meaningful if you aren't dialed in to the socio-political melieu of her early years. Surprisingly, the photos that I found the most stunning were those of dancers. Mikhail Baryshnikov is one of my favourite personalities, and Leibovitz's images of his dance troupe were incredibly powerful.
This incredibly heavy compilation only scratches the surface of Liebovitz' archives, but still contains some brilliant and iconic images, especially of rock musicians and movie stars. I preferred more of her spontaneous works -- such as following the Rolling Stones when on tour --rather than deliberately staged works, such as Whoopi Goldberg in a bathtub filled with (I guess) milk. I'm also not fond of listing the photo details at the book's end rather than place the information with the photo, although that's the usual way for photography books to be laid out.
Annie Liebovitz is brilliant, and I loved this book. I'm no expert on photography, but I am highly appreciative of Liebovitz's style as a photographer. This book incorporates two decades of Liebovitz's work, and includes at least 200 photographs. After examining Liebovitz's work, it is not a surprise that she is one of the most famous living photographers. My favorite photographs in this edition include: John Lennon, Bette Midler, The Rolling Stones, and Andy Warhol.
Annie Leibovitz is a genius. You can spot a photo she's taken in a nano second. Look at the cover of this book. Did she nail John and Yoko? Oh yes. John, naked, vulnerable, needy, Mommy!, pathetic. Yoko, completely covered in black, enduring John's need, indifferent, bored. Annie caught their entire relationship in one incredible shot.
A compelling collection of the work of Annie Liebovitz, the most creative portrait photographer of her generation, hands down. She puts her subjects in strange positions: nude and painted, surrounded by a background that claims some hold on their fundamental personality, their inner being betrayed by the positions of their bodies, by some odd tic of the face. Very interesting.
This was Leibovitz at the most daring, most creative point in her career. She led the way for future generations of female photographers who had messages to deliver from BEHIND the camera.