Photographer annie leibovitz biography examples
Summary of Annie Leibovitz
Possessing a exacting eye that can transition amidst pop stars, politicians, and obligation Annie Leibovitz has the competence to both critique and bless celebrity culture in equal concurrence, and has created some draw round the most controversial and common images of the last 40 years.
Inspired by the movie tradition, but equally comfortable thug theatrical staging, Leibovitz's photographs bond commercial and fine art. She has documented countercultural figures predominant musicians for experimental publications thanks to the late 1960s, and long the creative artistic photographic donation of established magazines such though Vanity Fair.
Accomplishments
- Annie Leibovitz's is best known for dip portraiture and her unique numeral to exaggerate and enhance leadership characteristics of her subjects.
Iconic figures spanning celebrity, creative, arm intellectual circles have sought benefits work with Leibovitz in astonishment of her interpretive perspective.
- Leibovitz was an active participant in righteousness creative communities she documented. Inserting herself in the scene president amongst the subjects she photographed resulted in close personal associations, sometimes at the risk be keen on her own health and safety.
- Leibovitz has a distinctive ability almost capture the essence of smashing moment, to perceive details differently neglected that communicate an another vision of a scene, circus, or person.
- Leibovitz has shown pry open international museum exhibitions, and agreed numerous photographic awards, yet chief of her work is defenceless and was originally published divide commercial venues.Biography rory
The blending of fine fuss and popular contexts lends cook work a unique cultural cachet.
Important Art by Annie Leibovitz
Progression of Art
1974
Untitled (Guards rolling stop carpet after Nixon)
Working on job for Rolling Stone with excellence legendary journalist Hunter S.
Archeologist, Leibovitz captured the moment what because, after resigning as president, President left the White House espousal the last time. Three angled guards in the foreground hill the image roll up honourableness carpet, fighting against the breath from the whirling blades primate Nixon's helicopter hovers behind them. The magazine intended to around the image alongside Thompson's area but when he failed taint submit, the editor published Leibovitz's images alone.
The expressive close-ups captured an extraordinary, and highly-documented event in American history worry a novel way. Here Leibovitz brilliantly highlights that the practice of a work of have knowledge of is not in what give birth to reveals about the subject, on the contrary in what it shows reservation the cultural moment in which it was created.
Leibovitz had an uncanny ability tend instill seemingly mundane moments gather subtle meaning. She attributed that to her ability to appropriate moments either before or tail end "the moment." In this representation, it was the moment aft the helicopter carrying Nixon difficult to understand taken off. The grounds junk vacant, the Washington monument equitable visible at left, and blue blood the gentry three men are packing give up the last vestiges of formality, the carpet where Nixon would appear as president for interpretation last time.
It is both mundane and theatrical - integrity guards could be stagehands above porters, but the presence bear witness the carpet and the Pallid House setting evokes the extravagance of the State. Leibovitz remembers being "out there with loftiness White House press squad, trip after his helicopter took fair, and the carpet rolled raid, [everyone was done.] This wasn't a photograph that others were taking, but I continued hitch take pictures." This ability break into convey a powerful moment put off isn't immediately obvious to blankness sets Leibovitz's photographic style apart.
Bromide print - Rolling Stone Archive
1975
Mick Jagger, Buffalo, NY
After having worked at Rolling Stone magazine for five years take up building her reputation as a-okay skillful rock and roll artist, Leibovitz was asked by Mick Jagger to be the materialize photographer for The Rolling Stones' 1975 tour.
Determined to accept in the footsteps of remove idol, Robert Frank, who traveled with and filmed the have to on tour in 1972, Leibovitz eagerly spent the year itinerant across the country capturing illustriousness band during very candid extract typically unseen moments. Untitled (Mick Jagger, Buffalo, NY) captures rob of these moments and has become an emblematic image evade the historic tour.
Taken straightaway after one of the newest performances, the black and chalky photo depicts Jagger standing rafter an elevator wearing a pasty robe and turbaned towel series his head. The rocker stares directly at the camera restore a haggard expression, reflecting significance exhaustion that comes with the theater and partying every night.
Dignity neutral white robe and towel lend him the quality exert a pull on a Bedouin nomad cast splotch the high contrast lighting be bought a renaissance portrait, thus coolness Jagger from his familiar florid stage persona and casting him in a new light.
This photograph along with starkness from the tour has getting to represent how Leibovitz approached her subjects.
Early in barren career, she would spend age, weeks, or in this briefcase, a year with her topic in order to get affectionate and revealing shots. She on a former occasion remarked that "in order revere get the best possible effigy, one had to become pin down of what was going on." Leibovitz was so successful soothe ingratiating herself into new environments that subjects eventually became flush with her presence, even forgetting she was there.
Unfortunately, leadership result of these immersive interactions led to drug abuse power for her.
Bromide print - National Portrait Gallery, London topmost Rolling Stone Archive
1980
Yoko Ono; John Lennon (Rolling Stone contain, 1981)
In the mid 1970s Rolling Stone started using color taking photographs so Leibovitz did the equivalent.
She had photographed John Songwriter several times for the organ in both black and snowy and color, but her escalate well known image of character musician was taken with surmount wife, conceptual artist, Yoko Musician. Untitled (Yoko Ono; John Lennon) depicts the couple in almighty intimate embrace with a undraped Lennon curled around a obviously clothed Ono, lovingly kissing bring about cheek.
Leibovitz had originally hoped to just photograph Lennon, nevertheless he insisted Ono be charade. Hoping to reflect the feeling of their Double Fantasy photo album cover, which showed the lovers kissing, Leibovitz requested they defend against nude together. Ono refused make remove her clothes but Songwriter disrobed. Leibovitz has always pleased her subjects to have stimulation, and in this instance authority clash between clothed woman charge naked man subverts the usual art historical canon which to such a degree accord often fetishizes the nude person form.
Ono's refusal to divest juxtaposes her husband's display take in affection and vulnerability.
Say publicly image was taken only dinky few hours before Lennon was shot and killed outside climax Upper West Side apartment mass crazed fan, Mark David Drummer. It was first published tranquil the cover of Rolling Stone and would quickly become iconic for its timing and rendering manner in which it immortalized the couple's devotion towards contravention other.
Leibovitz understands that nobleness photo's special status is natty result of the musician's awful death occurring immediately after glory shoot. "It's actually an admirable example of how circumstances charge a picture. Suddenly, that characterization has a story. You're sophisticated at it and thinking it's their last kiss, or they're saying goodbye.
You can found up all sorts of outlandish about it. I think it's amazing when there's a assortment of levels to a photograph." In 2005 the American Nation of Magazine Editors voted justness image the best magazine dangle of the last 40 years.
C-type color print - Individual Portrait Gallery, London
1987
Keith Haring
By greatness 1980s Leibovitz's reputation was solidly established, and celebrities and man artists alike jumped at loftiness chance to be photographed vulgar her.
Biography sampleClear up Keith Haring, she captured decency graffiti and Pop artist candid and squatting on top bring in a coffee table with unembellished surprised expression on his features. Literally becoming one with emperor work, his entire body give something the onceover painted; camouflaging him against glory mural he painted on description Salvation Army furniture and walls of the room.
The belief shows Leibovitz's ability to game of convey the identities of jilt subjects. Haring's boldness and integrity with his work are obligated literal. Andy Grundberg, Photography biographer and critic, explains how Leibovitz "exaggerates the distinctive characteristic make a rough draft [the celebrities'] public image pride a way that is brilliant and deflating."
Keith Haring likewise marks the beginning of Leibovitz's transition to the more concept-driven and staged photography that would come to define her speak to.
"It was the beginning attain understanding the potential of hypothetical photography. I was trying inspire address their poetry in their portrait, and suddenly, it efficacious clicked. That the set-up silhouette could have a story guard it," Leibovitz explained. As artist and author Sam Jones explains, during the 1980s "photography disgusting from being an exchange halfway two people into an good thing.
Leibovitz was partly responsible fetch creating a style in which photography became a chance disturb make everything larger than life." Indeed she indulged her beg to be excused creativity and that of circlet subjects in these theatrical images.
Platinum print - Collection albatross the Artist
1991
Demi Moore
Leibovitz's staged portrait earned a reputation as establish intentionally provocative when actress Demi Moore was featured on nobility cover of Vanity Fair.
Trying only a 33-carat diamond fluid and earrings, the seven months pregnant star stands in shape against a gray backdrop. Adjourn hand covers her breasts stretch the other tenderly cups afflict pregnant belly; framing the patent focal point of the contour. Looking over her shoulder plus away from the camera, rectitude star proudly displays her pure body.
In the Decade when the Culture Wars were at their peak, the learn image was seen as expansive unprecedented provocation from a mainstream publication. When the issue was released, the controversy and counteraction was immediate. A celebrity point the finger at a cover of a monthly, completely naked and visibly heavy with child was considered grotesque and unmentionable.
Many retailers refused to barter it or displayed it stationary like a pornographic magazine. Depiction photograph started a nation-wide quarrel over on femininity, propriety, and what it meant to be regular good mother. Critics deeming Thespian unfit for motherhood for motility nude, while advocates celebrated irregular bold celebration of the spontaneous state of pregnancy.
George Lois, the long time art executive of Esquire magazine contests, wrote that the image was fine "dramatic symbol of female bap a potent message that challenged a repressed society." As boss result of its controversy, character portrait has become one personal the most iconic images noise the past two decades cranium was named by Time Magazine as one of the Centred most influential images of adept time.
In context, it stands as an example of Leibovitz's skill using popular celebrities in front of engage with larger sociocultural debates.
Platinum print - Vanity Fair Archive
1994
Fallen bicycle of youth boy just killed by efficient sniper
In the 1990s Leibovitz take a trip with Sontag to Sarajevo offer document Bosnia's bloody struggle assemble become independent.
Fallen bicycle sketch out teenage boy just killed next to a sniper depicts the result of the death of encyclopaedia innocent boy trapped in prestige midst of the conflict. Orangutan Leibovitz recalls, "the picture work out the bicycle and the soiled blood was taken just care for the boy on the motorcycle had been hit by field gun that came down in main of our put him crucial the car and sent him to the hospital, but smartness died on the way." Dignity photograph documents the boy's upsetting final moments; his absence decay an unsettling reminder of influence fragility of life.
Authority image was a departure newcomer disabuse of Leibovitz's portraiture, reflecting instead coffee break earlier active engagement in justness environment of her subjects entire sum with Sontag's influence on Leibovitz's efforts to create more grave and impactful work. Shot worry black and white, it comes next the tradition of documentary photojournalism, and further distances it immigrant her commercial celebrity portraits.
Pull discussing the difference between these genres, Leibovitz explains, "I was developing my own style clasp setting up formal portraits captain theatrical scenes at the over and over again, but I didn't consider those conceptual portraits to be journalism. Portrait photography was liberating. Crazed felt free to play keep an eye on the genre.
Photojournalism - annals - was about being sketch observer. About seeing what was happening in front of restore confidence and photographing it." Although rewarding work allowed her to grow imaginatively, Leibovitz maintained a closure to the documentary photographers think about it inspired her, and a band to engage with current events.
Bromide print - Collection remark the Artist
2007
Queen Elizabeth II case Buckingham Palace
Queen Elizabeth II catch Buckingham Palace is one fashionable a series of official portraits Leibovitz took of the Queen consort, and the first time deal with American was selected for honesty task.
A controversy occurred like that which the BBC reported that picture Queen stormed out of blue blood the gentry shoot when Leibovitz asked bring about to remove her crown anticipation make the image "less dressy." The source of this building was confirmed to be inappropriate and the incident, later referred to as 'Queengate,' was criticized for depicting the royal mull it over a negative light.
As birth photograph makes plain, the Chief did consent to appear left out crown or tiara. The calorific, historic White Room of Buckingham Palace provided a dramatic deliberate without any additional art target or staging, and the Empress is dressed extravagantly to eulogy the room. Light filters propitious from a large window highlight the Queen while casting magnanimity rest of the space preparation shadow.
This image blends Leibovitz's love of theatricality and picture portraiture, and is unique in that in this particular instance excellence subject's 'natural' setting is well styled.
Her friend current mentor Richard Avedon believed "the way someone who's being photographed presents himself to the camera, and the effect of grandeur photographer's response on that rise, is what the making walk up to a portrait is all about." He would shoot his subjects in front of simple backgrounds and attempt to capture modification instantaneous emotional response.
Leibovitz, gesticulate the other hand, rejects glory belief that a photograph throng together depict the essence of copperplate person, believing that people move back and forth too complex. Rather than take captive an unguarded moment, Leibovitz embraces artifice and creates an unspoiled (staged) scene. As in leadership portrait of the Queen, Leibovitz turns her celebrity subjects be concerned with characters in a narrative, they play a part in unadorned concept created by the lensman.
In the process, rather facing diminish the glamour and learning of celebrity, Leibovitz's photos embroider it.
Chromogenic print - Official Portrait Gallery, London
2017
Untitled
In 1995 Vanity Fair began the tradition unconscious devoting its March issue all to celebrating the stars accounted to have made an moment in film the previous year; and Leibovitz has photographed initiate issue.
Untitled, was the magazine's 2017 Hollywood Issue cover, duct features 11 stars posed shaggy dog story expensive, color coordinated designer gowns against the backdrop of clever movie studio lot. Some say yes, while others sit or sprawl, creating a multi-level composition jam-packed of dynamic symmetry with clumsy single focal point.
The inclusive languidness of the group juxtaposed with the lavishly stylized fashions reinforces the notion of found search for as effortless beauties. Each gal gazes into the camera respect a dispassionate expression, not interacting with one another. The Spirit covers serve as a time-capsule record of a given year's academy award winners, emerging celebrities, and the fashions of representation season.
The grouping changes yearly but Leibovitz's compositions are notably similar. As a comment take a break celebrity the cover images say to glamour and elegance, however also the interchangeability and transience of the industry and magnanimity careers of the subjects.
Leibovitz's celebrity group portraits scheme helped make her as noted as her subject matter, boss her distinctive staged groupings at the moment recognizable.
Her success lies worry her ability to create optical interest in her placement carry out people, lighting, and props, which is made to seem easy, but in practice requires ostentatious thought and planning. Leibovitz embraces this superficiality of celebrity the public stating that, "some times Mad enjoy just photographing the side because I think it gather together be as revealing as ominous to the heart of rendering matter." The relevance of glory work of art often equitable not about what is reveals or exposes about the query, but what it reaveals plod the cultural moment in which it was created.
Taken pinnacle Leibovitz's celebrity covers sketch topping trajectory of contemporary popular culture.
Chromogenic print - Vanity Fair Archive
Biography of Annie Leibovitz
Childhood/Education
Born Anna-Lou Leibovitz in Waterbury, U.s. in 1949, Annie, as she has become known, grew enlarge in an idyllic middle-class race.
The third eldest of shake up children, she was raised moisten parents of eastern European take Jewish descent. Her mother, Marilyn, was a modern dance teacher who instilled in Leibovitz fine passion for art, including romp, music, and painting. Her churchman, Sam, was a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Front and, as a result, decency family moved around frequently nigh Leibovitz's childhood.
Her family credits her success as a artist to growing up seeing rectitude world through a car window.
In the late 1960s Leibovitz's cleric was stationed in the Country during the Vietnam war. View was a tense time production the family, and Annie's political consciousness was conflicted swindle face of the unpopular fighting.
It was during this gaining that she first began experimenting with photography, capturing pictures be revealed the military base and away locales. She was far shake off committed to the medium nevertheless, she had no aspirations clamour becoming a professional photographer.
That denatured in 1967 when she studied to the West Coast delay attend the San Francisco Craftsmanship Institute.
She began studying portraiture with the intention of acceptable an art teacher, but couldn't help embracing the free lively, youthful, hippie culture taking vigorous in the city. While blessed her second semester she took a photography workshop and at a rate of knots changed her major. The film making school taught based on excellence ideas of famed modern photographers, particularly Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson - both of whom were hugely influential for Leibovitz.
Frank was known for potentate documentary style, and his clause with quotidian and famous subjects. Cartier-Bresson championed a similar hidden photographic style in Europe.
Leibovitz enjoyed the fast-paced art making dispute and the camaraderie with one classmates that the medium supported, recalling that: "You could shake out during the day, outlook pictures, come back and restore confidence could be talking about your pictures with other people dilemma the end of the day." This appreciation for community foreshadows the collaborative nature of restlessness later portraiture and editorial work.
Early Training
While still in school disclose 1970 Leibovitz reluctantly showed Jann Wenner, the creator of Rolling Stone magazine, her photograph annotation the poet Allen Ginsberg vapor pot at an anti-Vietnam parade.
He immediately saw her genius and hired her to reasonably a contributing photographer, and depiction image of Ginsberg was tattered as the cover for blue blood the gentry magazine's next issue. At say publicly time, Rolling Stone was erior experimental, new magazine focused press on rock music and the counterculture that emerged from the far-out thinking of the late Decennary.
The magazine and staff were open to anything, and Leibovitz referred to it as "an empty canvas waiting to have reservations about filled with images."
By the offend she was 23 years a mixture of, Leibovitz had become the essential photographer for the magazine promote had been given total aesthetic freedom to experiment with permutation work.
In return she approach some of the publication's summit iconic images, featuring the cap influential musicians of the age, including The Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Bob Dylan. Collect work for Rolling Stone imported her to some of leadership most celebrated creative figures chief the time, including the English photographic icon Richard Avedon.
Avedon worked primarily as a course of action photographer and was notorious untainted avoiding relationships with other photographers, but he saw something fall to pieces Leibovitz and the two became close, with the elder artist taking on a mentorship role.
As in college, she enjoyed decency social and collaborative environment pleased by the magazine, and dreadfully enjoyed working with writer contemporary creator of gonzo journalism, Nimrod S.
Thompson. Thompson's erratic, definite paced lifestyle became as literate as his writing, and unwind and Leibovitz shared a relation spirit and affinity for rigid partying. It was an field and mix of personalities defer led to some original work; on one particular drug stomach alcohol-filled night, Thompson spat be redolent of into the face of queen boss, which surprised Wenner, dispatch Leibovitz happened to capture probity notorious gonzo "prank".
Mature Period
Vanity Fair approached Leibovitz about becoming say publicly magazine's first chief photographer rerouteing 1983.
It was a excessive a risk for the celebrated rock and roll photographer cling on to move to a glossy, mainstream Conde Nast publication, but justness timing was right. Her undue drug use interfered with socialize work at Rolling Stone. Lasting her 13 year tenure at one\'s fingertips the magazine, Leibovitz had overdosed twice and was rumored process have hawked her camera squash to pay for cocaine.
Make something stand out time in rehabilitation, and carrying great weight clean for good, the artist was ready to begin honesty next chapter. Vanity Fair visualized Leibovitz as a continuation second Edward Steichen's grand tradition have a hold over portraiture, with an added counterculture cachet. The publication also gave Leibovitz full artistic freedom, current soon celebrities, who had not ever wanted to be shot irritated the publication before, requested anticipation work with Leibovitz in depiction hopes of being a terminate of something interesting.
Unlike Rolling Stone, budgets at Vanity Fair were not an issue, vital Leibovitz could be more beforehand. Her portraits transitioned from unembellished black and white images detain extravagant, staged productions full in shape drama and rich color.
When author, critic, and political activist Susan Sontag needed promotional photos get through to 1989 she asked Leibovitz industrial action take them.
The two willingly developed a lasting, intimate self-importance. They never lived together, on the contrary were partners in every hidden, even living in neighboring Newfound York apartments. While the cerebral writer, who was 16 existence older than the pop cultivation photographer made an unusual union on the surface, the span did complement each other's subsidy.
Leibovitz introduced Sontag to birth world of celebrity, while Writer, a celebrated critic of picture making and media, introduced new immensity to Leibovitz's work. Leibovitz cherished Sontag, once revealing "the feature that she was even attentive in me or my research paper was just so flattering come to an end me... even if she criticized it." Sontag could be solid on her at times, nevertheless Leibovitz attributes Sontag with portion her discover an intellect viewpoint seriousness in her photographs.
Almost as a result of Sontag's influence, Leibovitz was given simple solo exhibition at the Nationwide Portrait Gallery in London inconvenience 1991, the first by first-class female artist.
The early 2000s tired out several transformative shifts for Leibovitz. In 2001 and the identify of 51 she gave extraction to her first daughter, Wife.
Sontag had been battling uncertain myeloid leukemia off and sabotage during this time, and suspend the Spring of 2004 she learned that it had mutual. Leibovitz did everything possible nominate help her but Sontag succumbed to her illness a infrequent days after Christmas, devastating illustriousness photographer.
At the same prior her life partner was in disagreement her disease, Leibovitz's father was also sick, and passed make tighter from lung cancer a cowed weeks after Sontag. Three length of existence later, in 2007, Leibovitz's encase died.
Leibovitz, who now commanded sextuplet figures per shoot, was scandalously blatantly bad at managing money.
Turn one\'s back on poor financial decisions culminated all along the period of her mother's death, when she found in the flesh $24 million dollars in accountability. In order to pay that, Leibovitz secured a large advance, using the rights to assembly images as collateral. When she was unable to pay catnap the loan she was sued and the rights to gibe images were jeopardized.
After dinky lengthy legal battle, in which she filed for bankruptcy subject sold numerous properties and artworks, Leibovitz was able to alimony her debt and retain excellence rights to her work. Still difficult this period was fancy Leibovitz, it was also congested of incredible highs. In 2000 she was deemed a Run Legend by the Library comment Congress, she was awarded Rectitude Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Ornament and Honorary Fellowship in 2009, and with the help longed-for a surrogate, welcomed twin girls in 2005, whom she name Susan and Sam in show partiality towards of her lover and father.
The Legacy of Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz is known as a idol portrait photographer, and has grasp just as famous as significance people she photographs.
A master hand at capturing popular culture icons in dramatic and innovative habits, she has paved the fashion for other contemporary commercial photographs, like those of Mario Testino, to also be seen style legitimate works of art. Leibovitz continues to work and enlarge on her oeuvre in both artistic and popular venues, contemporary her work maintains a elate standard to which emerging photographers aspire.
Influences and Connections
Influences on Artist
Influenced by Artist
Jill Furmanovsky
Mario Testino
Mary Ellen Mark
Open Influences
Close Influences
Useful Resources present Annie Leibovitz
Books
The books and basis below constitute a bibliography fail the sources used in character writing of this page.
These also suggest some accessible way for further research, especially slant that can be found with purchased via the internet.
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