Larsen's Photography: Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

Annie Leibovitz is a very famous American photographer. She went to college at the San Fransico Art Institute to become an art teacher. She has a large body of work with reportage photography as well as celebrity portraits. In her early photography career her photographs were more reportage as she worked with the Rolling Stone. She left work with Rolling Stone for Vanity Fair in the 80's which is when her photography became more staged portraits with celebrities. Leibovitz had the opportunity to work with The Beatles, Hilary Clinton, Bet Midler, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Whoopi Goldberg and many other celebrities. She had the opportunity to photograph events like Nixon resigning from office or even concerts while on tour with the Rolling Stones. She even begged her editor at Rolling Stone to photograph John Lennon and Yolko Ono. I think a lot of Leibovitz's fame comes from her pushing the boundaries like with her photographs of Demi Moore. Additionally her fame comes from photographing people or events from a new, unobserved perspective. She became immersed in the scene like with her tour with the Rolling Stones, which made everything seem so real. It made the photographs come to life. It took everything from her relationships with the subject to the actual photograph to a more personal, intimate level. I did not really know about Leibovitz and her photography until we watched the documentary, however it was very inspirational.