Annie Leibovitz was born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1949. Her father was a lieutenant in the military so the family moved around depending on where he was stationed. She first started taking pictures while her and her family was in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. In 1970 she began her work for the Rolling Stone Magazine as the chief photographer. Her intimate photos of celebrities helped define the well known "Rolling Stone" look. She photographed many covers for the magazine, including one picture of John Lennon, which was taken only 5 hours before he was killed. He photography career also includes many photo shoots with celebrities for famous magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. However, she also took photographs for album cover and advertisements, including a Disney World promotion where stars were dressed as popular Disney characters.
When I first looked at Annie's work, I immediately fell in love with the photos she took for the Disney World advertisements. The amount of imagination and creativity that was in the photos made it truly magical, capturing my attention. I decided to keep looking into her photography career and found that she took a wide variety of photos for a variety of different people. I wanted to look into all her different types of photos and see the different occasions she took each picture for.
When I first looked at Annie's work, I immediately fell in love with the photos she took for the Disney World advertisements. The amount of imagination and creativity that was in the photos made it truly magical, capturing my attention. I decided to keep looking into her photography career and found that she took a wide variety of photos for a variety of different people. I wanted to look into all her different types of photos and see the different occasions she took each picture for.
This is one of the photos Annie took for the Disney World Campaign. She had to find stars and have them pose as Disney characters for a photo shoot. Leibovitz then takes and edits the photos, giving them a magical tone. In this photo, Jennifer Hudson is depicted as Princess Tiana from the Princess and the Frog. Leibovitz helps design the entire set and creates the proper lighting that gives the photo that mysterious and "fairytale-like" feeling. Of all the Disney photos she took, this is one of my favorites. The way she makes the story come to life is enchanting. I also loved the way she used the trees to frame Jennifer the light to draw your attention right to her.
Leibovitz also did a series of photo portraits for the Olympics. In this photo, she has the Bryan brothers, professional tennis players, and Karlie Kloss, a Victoria Secret Model. I chose this photo because I thought that it was creative how she combined a professional model with two boys who were obviously just having fun with the shoot. I really liked how the boys were just wearing their tennis clothes and carrying their rackets rather than being all dressed up because I feel like she really captured their personalities. I also loved how she made Karlie have on a dress that is made of the same material a tennis ball is made of, adding to the theme. Overall I just think this is a creative and fun photo.
Leibovitz is also known for her black and white portraits of celebrities. In this photo of John Mayer, I really like Leibovitz's use of lighting and negative space. The image is completely empty except for John, immediately demanding all your attention. I also like how he is not in the center of the frame but off to the side, which would normally take the attention off of someone but since there is nothing else in the picture, it just emphasizes his presence even more. In all of her black and white photos of celebrities, they tend to have nothing in them but the celebrity and a blank wall, making the photos very dramatic.
Another project Leibovitz worked on was shooting the characters of the movie Les Meserables. She took pictures of all the characters, but this one was my favorite because I think she did an amazing job of really capturing the essence of these characters. Their clothing, the setting and even the way they're positioned in their chairs makes them seem frazzled and all over the place. Also the attention to detail in this picture is great, and I love how she included the stolen hat on the table in between the two.