Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer known for her portraits of celebrities. She began her career in San Francisco, where she studied painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. She soon discovered her passion for photography on a trip to the Philippines and enrolled in a night class.
Leibovitz met success at a very young age; by 23 she was already the chief photographer for the Rolling Stone magazine. Her black and white portrait of John Lennon published in 1971 is an iconic picture, and already shows her focus on intense lightening and a feeling of intimacy in her portraits.
She had a talent to put people at ease and make them feel comfortable during photo-shoots, resulting celebrities to reveal a part of their personality threw Leibovitz’s shots. This talent was very useful to her, during her time touring with the Rolling Stones, as she blended in very well with them and was able to shoot very intimate and private photos.
When the magazine began printing in colour, she had to learn how to use colour herself. During her time working for Rolling Stone she shot a lot of portraits for its cover, most of them “classic” portraits, but at the end of her time working for the magazine a change in her way of working could be found.
Her portraits became more conceptual and abstract, such as the portrait of the artist Keith Haring whose body was camouflaged with a mural he painted on Salvation Army furniture. Instead of plain portraits, Leibovitz would create pun-like images with her subjects, trying to tell a story through a set up portrait.
She then began working for other iconic magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, developing her signature style with bright colours. Lightening also plays a big part in her signature style. She lights her portraits using a combination of constant light mixed with strobe.
Leibovitz was also known for researching her subject’s work and history before shooting them to have a better sense of who they are as a person, especially when working with well-known celebrities. Demi Moore (very pregnant and very nude followed by a body painting shoot), Whoopi Goldberg (half-submerged in a bathtub of milk), Sylvester Stallone (appearing nude in a pose inspired by Rodin's "The Thinker") and Caitlyn Jenner (in a corset after having publicly revealed her identity as a woman) are among the most remembered celebs portraits.
Critics claimed that Leibovitz takes too much control of her subjects; her characteristic dramatic poses appearing too calculated and staged. But exactly these poses are a big part of her so easily recognisable style. A turning point in her career was when she met Susan Sontag.
The writer encouraged Leibovitz to explore more serious subjects, leading her to fly to Sarajevo in 1994 capturing the horrors of war with a simplicity that have a great impact on the viewer. The black and white photos have a sad and haunting look, the lack of colour amplifying this.
Her private and professional photos have very different styles, her professional work tending to be in colour, her private gallery in black and white. Leibovitz also worked on huge ad campaigns, enabling her to fly all over the world for her set up portraits. Nowadays she is the best-known female, and highest paid, photographer and has successfully reflected our culture and society through her lens.
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