Annie Leibovitz has photographed some of the worlds most famous people, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Brian Wilson, David Beckham, The Rolling Stones, Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Bob Hope, John Lennon, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Patti Smith, Ray Charles, Mohammed Ali, Michael Jordon, Fleetwood Mac, Andy Warhol, The Queen, Bob Dylan, Nelson Mandella and most of the Hollywood élite over the past 20 years.
I have only recently put her name to many famous shots. Annie is responsible for Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA album cover, the Demi Moore pregnant cover, John Lennon’s last portrait (the nude rolling stones cover) and controversial Miley Cyrus ‘nude’ cover to name a few.
It is some of her most recent work which I really enjoy. She creates massive staged portraits of celebrities. It is not the celebrity aspect I enjoy, it’s the photography. Leibovitz likes to construct elaborate sets that recreate scenes and parts from famous films, fairy tales, historical events and books. The celebrities take the part of impersonating the characters e.g. Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. In these photographs she manages to create great atmosphere and through it references a strange hyper reality. There is definitely some Photoshop work and imposed backgrounds but I think the end justifies the means. Some truly beautiful photography with great imagination.
In the 1970′s Leibovitz worked for the recently launched Rolling Stone magazine, she became chief photographer and would shape the style and look of the magazine until 1983. Since then she has worked as a featured portrait photographer for Vanity Fair along with her personal projects.
She a recently released a book named Annie Leibovitz: A photographer’s life. Click here for more Leibovitz photographs.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Ric // Sep 9, 2008 at 14:08
‘There is definitely some Photoshop work and imposed backgrounds but I think the end justifies the means.’
There’s no problem using Photoshop to digitally manipulate images, it’s no different to getting someone to wear make-up, a costume, or use a lighting rig — they all alter the image to achieve the desired effect.
2 Tim Feak // Dec 10, 2009 at 12:08
Great to see someone else over here a Leibovitz fan. She is way my favourite photographer and is a great source of inspiration. I posses several of her books and have read her “at work” which is a fascinating insight into how she approaches her work. Whilst Ric is right that some photoshop work is done (I’ve actually found out which NY retouch hose she uses) a lot of the effect that you see is through amazing control of lighting. Nowadays since her rebirth after rolling stone and her reinvention as Vanity Fair photographer she goes in for complex sets and lighting and up to 5 assistants. Sadly I don’t know any clients who would pay me to do this (take note Betley Whitehorne). The painterly effect she achieves most notable in the shots of the queen are down to fantastic control of natural light (often with massive overhead diffusers) plus a key light and (here is the important bit) huge fill lights in the form of often 2 x 10 f octaboxes. All this needs to be carried round in a huge truck. The Miley Cyrus and BillyRay shoot is very interesting in that she shot in an open field on an overcast day to create a very soft fill and used one key light she shot against a grey colourama roll. How do I know this?
Well I had a commission from a client recently who wanted the shot recreated but with her in it!
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