Synopsis
Possessing a selective eye that can transition between pop stars, politicians, and royalty Annie Leibovitz has the ability to both critique and celebrate celebrity culture in equal measure, and has created some of the most controversial and popular images of the last 40 years. Inspired by the documentary tradition, but equally comfortable with theatrical staging, Liebovitz's photographs bridge commercial and fine art. She has documented countercultural figures and musicians for experimental publications since the late 1960s, and continued the creative artistic photographic legacy of established magazines such as Vanity Fair.
Key Ideas
Most Important Art
Untitled (Guards rolling up carpet after Nixon) (1974)
Leibovitz had an uncanny ability to instill seemingly mundane moments with subtle meaning. She attributed this to her ability to capture moments either before or after "the moment." In this image, it was the moment after the helicopter carrying Nixon had taken off. The grounds are vacant, the Washington monument is visible at left, and the three men are packing up the last vestiges of ceremony, the carpet where Nixon would appear as president for the last time. It is both mundane and theatrical- the guards could be stagehands or porters, but the presence of the carpet and the White House setting evokes the pageantry of the State. Leibovitz remembers being "out there with the White House press squad, and after his helicopter took off, and the carpet rolled up, [everyone was done.] This wasn't a photograph that others were taking, but I continued to take pictures." This ability to convey a powerful moment that isn't immediately obvious to others sets Leibovitz's photographic style apart.
Mick Jagger, Buffalo, NY (1975)
This photograph along with others from the tour has come to represent how Leibovitz approached her subjects. Early in her career, she would spend days, weeks, or in this case, a year with her subject in order to get intimate and revealing shots. She once remarked that "in order to get the best possible image, one had to become part of what was going on." Leibovitz was so successful at ingratiating herself into new environments that subjects eventually became comfortable with her presence, even forgetting she was there. Unfortunately, the result of these immersive interactions led to drug abuse problems for her.
Yoko Ono; John Lennon (Rolling Stone cover, 1981) (1980)
The image was taken only a few hours before Lennon was shot and killed outside his Upper West Side apartment by crazed fan, Mark David Chapman. It was first published on the cover of Rolling Stone and would quickly become iconic for its timing and the manner in which it immortalized the couple's devotion towards each other. Leibovitz understands that the photo's special status is a result of the musician's tragic death occurring immediately after the shoot. "It's actually an excellent example of how circumstances change a picture. Suddenly, that photograph has a story. You're looking at it and thinking it's their last kiss, or they're saying goodbye. You can make up all sorts of things about it. I think it's amazing when there's a lot of levels to a photograph." In 2005 the American Society of Magazine Editors voted the image the best magazine cover of the last 40 years.
Keith Haring (1987)
Keith Haring also marks the beginning of Leibovitz's transition to the more concept-driven and staged photography that would come to define her style. "It was the beginning of understanding the potential of conceptual photography. I was trying to address their poetry in their portrait, and suddenly, it just clicked. That the set-up portrait could have a story to it," Leibovitz explained. As photographer and author Sam Jones explains, during the 1980s "photography turned from being an exchange between two people into an event. Leibovitz was partly responsible for creating a style in which photography became a chance to make everything larger than life." Indeed she indulged her own creativity and that of her subjects in these theatrical images.
Demi Moore (1991)
In the 1990s when the Culture Wars were at their peak, the cover image was seen as an unprecedented provocation from a mainstream publication. When the issue was released, the controversy and backlash was immediate. A celebrity on a cover of a magazine, completely naked and visibly pregnant was considered grotesque and obscene. Many retailers refused to sell it or displayed it covered like a pornographic magazine. The photograph started a nation-wide discussion on femininity, propriety, and what it meant to be a good mother. Critics deeming Moore unfit for motherhood for posing nude, while advocates celebrated her bold celebration of the natural state of pregnancy. George Lois, the long time art director of Esquire magazine contests, wrote that the image was a "dramatic symbol of female empowerment...that conveyed a potent message that challenged a repressed society." As a result of its controversy, the portrait has become one of the most iconic images of the past two decades and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential images of all time. In context, it stands as an example of Leibovitz's skill using popular celebrities to engage with larger sociocultural debates.
Fallen bicycle of teenage boy just killed by a sniper (1994)
The image was a departure from Leibovitz's portraiture, reflecting instead her earlier active engagement in the environment of her subjects combined with Sontag's influence on Leibovitz's efforts to create more serious and impactful work. Shot in black and white, it follows the tradition of documentary photojournalism, and further distances it from her commercial celebrity portraits. In discussing the difference between these genres, Leibovitz explains, "I was developing my own style of setting up formal portraits and theatrical scenes at the time, but I didn't consider those conceptual portraits to be journalism. Portrait photography was liberating. I felt free to play with the genre. Photojournalism - reportage - was about being an observer. About seeing what was happening in front of you and photographing it." Although commercial work allowed her to expand imaginatively, Leibovitz maintained a connection to the documentary photographers that inspired her, and a drive to engage with current events.
Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace (2007)
Her friend and mentor Richard Avedon believed "the way someone who's being photographed presents himself to the camera, and the effect of the photographer's response on that presence, is what the making of a portrait is all about." He would shoot his subjects in front of simple backgrounds and attempt to capture an instantaneous emotional response. Leibovitz, on the other hand, rejects the belief that a photograph can depict the essence of a person, believing that people are too complex. Rather than capture an unguarded moment, Leibovitz embraces artifice and creates an idealized (staged) scene. As in the portrait of the Queen, Leibovitz turns her celebrity subjects into characters in a narrative, they play a part in a concept created by the photographer. In the process, rather than diminish the glamour and mythology of celebrity, Leibovitz's photos aggrandize it.
Untitled (2017 Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover) (2017)
Leibovitz's celebrity group portraits have helped make her as famous as her subject matter, and her distinctive staged groupings immediately recognizable. Her success lies in her ability to create visual interest in her placement of people, lighting, and props, which is made to seem effortless, but in practice requires much thought and planning. Leibovitz embraces this superficiality of celebrity culture stating that, "some times I enjoy just photographing the surface because I think it can be as revealing as going to the heart of the matter." The relevance of the work of art often is not about what is reveals or exposes about the subject, but what it reaveals about the cultural moment in which it was created. Taken together Leibovitz's celebrity covers sketch a trajectory of contemporary popular culture.