The Life and Works of Annie Leibovitz

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The Life and Works of Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is one of the best portrait photographers in this modern age. Her works focus on varied subjects but hover more among celebrity portraits. Apart from these, her photographs depict visual stories that affect audience's emotions. The diversity and life of her photographs create visual artistic realms that touch the soul.

Biography:

In 1949, Annie Leibovitz was born in Westbury, Connecticut. Based on Peter Marshall's article posted in About.com, as a student, Leibovitz had an architectural dig at King Solomon's Temple in Israel by 1969. By 1970, she had her first photograph published by the magazine "Rolling Stone." When she graduated from San Francisco Art Institute with her BFA in 1971, she became the magazine's principal photographer in 1973 and stayed with them for the next ten years. Her major influences especially when she was at college were Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank.

On a personal note, Leibovitz admitted to her being single in an interview with Anna B. Bohdziewicz last January 19, 1998. Bohdziewicz had asked about how as an artist a family can affect one's work. She replied with: "I do think it is being a sacrifice. It is a classic story of time going much faster then you realize. I do think the work is one in that respect and that I will probably have some regrets, but I do not think it is too late. The work is a big baby, and I have said this before, it has to be fed and you cannot do anything else you really cannot. I fortunately have a set of good friends but everything has felt like it has been for the work, feeds back the work."

Career:

Leibovitz's big ticket to celebrity photography was probably in 1975 when she photographed the Rolling Stone's on tour. She then became the famous band's official photographer. Her famous trail of celebrity portraiture has started. Meanwhile, Andy Warhol became another of Leibovitz's employers as he used her talent in his "Interview" magazine. It was a chance of fate that Warhol picked her as Leibovitz was his second choice for his particular subject.

In Peter Marshall's article, he noted that John Lennon's death in 1980 provided a tragic opportunity for Leibovitz's career. "Only shortly before, she had made her now famous picture of a naked John Lennon hugging his wife Yoko Ono.

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