Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

If you are at all interested in photography, than there is no doubt that you have at least heard the name Annie Leibovitz. She is known for taking very famous pictures of very famous people including George Clooney, Hillary Clinton, John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Jackson. She is famous for humanizing the people she takes pictures of and for taking risks with her work. She has shot for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Rolling Stone.

This film about Annie really inspired me as well as taught me about the beauty of photography and about what it takes to get a good shot. Annie’s photographs do more than just capture a moment in time; they tell a story. She describes her photographs as “a portrait of a moment” and there really is no better way of describing it. Each of her pictures has meaning behind it. Sometimes photography can be thought of as just simply pointing a camera at a subject and pressing a button, but that is a terribly mistaken misconception. What is interesting about Annie, and is one of the reasons why she is as famous as she is, is because she gets to know and understand her subjects so that they feel comfortable around her. This intimacy with the subjects allows her to become a part of the scene and to truly capture the emotions and personality of the subject. This kind of intimacy is more than just taking pictures. Her pictures are about capturing a bit of the story of that person. That is why her images are so captivating because there is emotion and power in her images that could not be created without that connection between photographer and subject.

Another thing that is very interesting about Annie is the influence from other photographers that she modeled her own work on. She was very influenced by Barbara Morgan’s photographs of dance and even modeled some of her own dance shots off of her work. She researched the work of other artists and used their work as inspiration for her own shots.

The top image was taken by Barbara Morgan and the bottom image was taken by Annie. Both of these shots have the same point of view however Annie’s shot of the dancer has an aspect of symmetry since the dress comes up on both sides of the dancer and almost frames the dancer in the center of the shot. Both images capture the movement of the dancers through the flows and creases of the dresses and the positions of the dancers.

One of the most humbling moments during the film was when Annie was discussing her faults with one of her photo shoots. It was refreshing to hear from someone who is so famous for her photographs to admit to not always being a professional and for discussing her own failures and setbacks. She said something about the photo shoot that she felt she did not do so well on that really interested me. She said that it is important to, “take your photo to another place—make it meaningful.” This is important because a picture is average unless there is power behind the image. She emphasized taking a picture and bringing it to the next level. When discussing the faults with one of her photo shoots she mentioned that she had subjects but never made them do anything other than just stand in line for the picture. She realized looking back that she could have taken her picture to the next level by using her subjects to create a truly powerful image.

There are so many powerful and moving photographs that Annie Leibovitz has taken and I wish I could include them all here. Instead, I just chose a few of my favorite shots.

This photograph, although humorous, has a strong message behind it. Annie’s vision behind this picture was of Whoopi emerging from the “white” of the milk just as Whoopi in real life had emerged as a black woman in a white world. I really like the point of view of this photograph. By capturing the image from a viewpoint of being above Whoopi we get a full view of her emerging from the milk. If the shot were taken straight on from the side of the bathtub, the message would not be conveyed to the viewer because the full scene would not be pictured.

This photograph is extremely powerful and was also very controversial. This is a portrait of Demi Moore but it is not the average portrait. The portrait is a straightforward shot, which is average for a portrait, but the complete nudity of Demi while pregnant creates a very memorable image.

This shot is really moving because although the Obama family does not appear to be posing or ready for the shot, there is a natural feeling of love and connection. Annie catches the family in an honest moment and I think that is what she does best.