Annie+Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz was born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1949. She is most known for her portraiture, mainly of celebrities. In 1970 Leibovitz was an art student studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute when she decided to take a photography class. Not soon after, her friend, Christopher Springmann, drove her to the office of //Rolling Stone// insisting she show them her work. The art director, Robert Kingsbury, not only liked her photographs, but bought one and hired her on the spot.

What made her famous was the world of music. Her first assignment was to take a portrait of John Lennon. Her black-and-white photograph of the Beatle was printed on the cover of the January 21, 1971 issue. Two years later she was named //Rolling Stone// chief photographer. In 1975, Leibovitz went on the world tour with the //Rolling Stones// capturing every moment. By the late 70's her subjects began coming to her.

In 1983, Leibovitz joined //Vanity Fair//. While there she became known for her "wildly lit, staged, and provocative portraits of celebrities." Most famous are the images of Whoopi Goldberg submerged in a tub of milk and the portrait of Demi Moore naked and pregnant. She does not believe that film can capture a whole person, but only a slice. During the time Leibovitz has been a photographer for //Vanity Fair//, she has put many famous people through intensive designs."John Cleese dangled himself upside down from a tree for her, Kate Winslet submerged herself in a custom-made fish tank and Clint Eastwood permitted himself to be tied up." Since then she has photographed a wide range of celebrities, musicians, and government officials.

Leibovitz is not limited to just portraiture. She has done some photojournalism and landscape photography. Some of these photographs can be seen in her book, //A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005.// Her photographs have also been featured in her first museum show, //Photographs: Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990//. This show took place at the National Portrait Gallery in D.C. in 1991. At the time she was the only woman to be featured in an exhibition by the institution.

Today Leibovitz is still out there taking pictures that grab our attention. "Ms. Leibovitz practically reinvented the single, storytelling portrait, using humor, corniness, oddity, boldness, silliness, and sheer unexpectedness to make a photograph catch your attention instantly."

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