“I don’t have two lives,” Annie Leibovitz writes in the Introduction to this collection of her work from 1990 to 2005. “This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.” Portraits of well-known figures–Johnny Cash, Nicole Kidman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Keith Richards, Michael Jordan, Joan Didion, R2-D2, Patti Smith, Nelson Mandela, Jack Nicholson, and William Burroughs–appear alongside pictures of Leibovitz’s family and friends, reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early Nineties, and landscapes. The pictures form a narrative of a life rich in contrasts and continuities. The photographer has a long relationship that ends with illness and death. She chronicles the celebrations and heartbreaks of her large and robust family. She has children of her own. All the while, she is working, and the public work resonates with the themes of the life.
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“Annie Leibovitz’s photographic memoir of the past fifteen years in her life captures powerful, intimate moments. . . . She juxtaposes the most personal against the full-color flash of celebrities and the grandeur of the natural landscape against the bloody horror of war. A Photographer’s Life is a testament to a life lived large–and in full embrace.”—More magazine
“Her fans may be astonished both by the range of the work and the unstudied, everyday quality of some of the images–a family day at the beach, a newborn in the delivery room.”—Newsweek
“A revelation.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Startling.”—Washington Post
“Her fans may be astonished both by the range of the work and the unstudied, everyday quality of some of the images–a family day at the beach, a newborn in the delivery room.”—Newsweek
“A revelation.”—Boston Sunday Globe
“Startling.”—Washington Post
About the Author
Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949, in Waterbury, Connecticut. Her father was an officer in the air force and her childhood was spent on a succession of military bases. She began her career as a photojournalist for Rolling Stone in 1970, while she was still a student at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her pictures have appeared regularly on magazine covers ever since, and her large and distinguished body of work encompasses some of the most well-known portraits of our time.
Leibovitz’s first major assignment was for a cover story on John Lennon. She became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer in 1973, and by the time she left the magazine, ten years later, she had shot 142 covers and published photo-essays on scores of stories, including her memorable accounts of the resignation of Richard Nixon and of the 1975 Rolling Stones tour. In 1983, when she joined the staff of the revived Vanity Fair, she was established as the foremost rock music photographer and an astute documentarian of the social landscape. At Vanity Fair, and later at Vogue, she developed a large body of work–portraits of actors, directors, writers, musicians, athletes, and political and business figures, as well as fashion photographs–that expanded her collective portrait of contemporary life. In addition to her editorial work, she has created several influential advertising campaigns, including her award-winning portraits for American Express and the Gap. She has also collaborated with many arts organizations. Leibovitz has a special interest in dance, and in 1990 she documented the creation of the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris.
Several collections of Leibovitz’s work have been published. They include Annie Leibovitz: Photographs (1983); Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970—1990 (1991); Olympic Portraits (1996); Women (1999), in collaboration with Susan Sontag; American Music (2003); and Annie Leibovitz at Work (2008), a first-person commentary on her career, from her coverage of the resignation of Nixon to the commissioned portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. Exhibitions of her work have appeared at museums and galleries all over the world, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the International Center of Photography in New York; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; and the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition A Photographer’s Life, 1990—2005 opened at the Brooklyn Museum and toured internationally.
Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors. In 2006 she was decorated a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. The previous year, in a compilation of the forty top magazine covers of the past forty years by the American Society of Magazine Editors, she held the top two spots (#1 for the photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken for Rolling Stone the day Lennon was shot, and #2 for the pregnant Demi Moore in Vanity Fair). Leibovitz has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. She lives in New York with her three children, Sarah, Susan, and Samuelle.
Leibovitz’s first major assignment was for a cover story on John Lennon. She became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer in 1973, and by the time she left the magazine, ten years later, she had shot 142 covers and published photo-essays on scores of stories, including her memorable accounts of the resignation of Richard Nixon and of the 1975 Rolling Stones tour. In 1983, when she joined the staff of the revived Vanity Fair, she was established as the foremost rock music photographer and an astute documentarian of the social landscape. At Vanity Fair, and later at Vogue, she developed a large body of work–portraits of actors, directors, writers, musicians, athletes, and political and business figures, as well as fashion photographs–that expanded her collective portrait of contemporary life. In addition to her editorial work, she has created several influential advertising campaigns, including her award-winning portraits for American Express and the Gap. She has also collaborated with many arts organizations. Leibovitz has a special interest in dance, and in 1990 she documented the creation of the White Oak Dance Project with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Morris.
Several collections of Leibovitz’s work have been published. They include Annie Leibovitz: Photographs (1983); Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970—1990 (1991); Olympic Portraits (1996); Women (1999), in collaboration with Susan Sontag; American Music (2003); and Annie Leibovitz at Work (2008), a first-person commentary on her career, from her coverage of the resignation of Nixon to the commissioned portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. Exhibitions of her work have appeared at museums and galleries all over the world, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the International Center of Photography in New York; the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; and the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition A Photographer’s Life, 1990—2005 opened at the Brooklyn Museum and toured internationally.
Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors. In 2006 she was decorated a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. The previous year, in a compilation of the forty top magazine covers of the past forty years by the American Society of Magazine Editors, she held the top two spots (#1 for the photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken for Rolling Stone the day Lennon was shot, and #2 for the pregnant Demi Moore in Vanity Fair). Leibovitz has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. She lives in New York with her three children, Sarah, Susan, and Samuelle.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
You have a great treat ahead of you.
If a great portrait photographer can wring powerful meaning from people she barely knows, imagine what she can do with those she knows and loves. That's the exciting door that Annie Leibovitz opens for us in publishing A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. Walk through that door, and you'll never be the same.
While there are many wonderful celebrity portraits in the volume, those mostly pale my comparison to the intimate portraits from Ms. Leibovitz's personal life. In many ways, Ms. Leibovitz's life is both mundane and extraordinary . . . and these images help us see more deeply into both.
As she hints in the introduction, Ms. Leibovitz sees each person as small and fleeting in terms of the universe . . . but large and important in the moment terms of the uniqueness of that person and that moment for those whose lives are touched at the time. The iconic photographs of Susan Sontag dwarfed by the opening to Petra in Jordan and sitting on the Great Pyramid capture this sense beautifully. But so do photographs of celebrities (like Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, and Sylvester Stallone) looking as they never looked before or since.
Ms. Leibovitz is unafraid to reveal herself which adds to the dynamic of this book themed around the fleeting nature of human life. You'll see her partially undraped with camera in hand creating a series of four self portraits. The serious look in her eyes belies the sensuality of her torso. Having chosen motherhood in her fifties, you'll also see her fully exposed in her pregnant state in a portrait that echoes the famous magazine cover of a pregnant Demi Moore.
More significantly, she reveals the deep caring that she felt for Susan Sontag during their years together before Ms. Sontag succumbed to cancer. That painful downward path is thoroughly portrayed in rich texture.
The same theme of mortality is carried forth in a series of photographs of her parents that culminate in her father's death. Her mother's decline from a sprightly grandmother into an aging widow is also well documented.
Vibrant images of family life, siblings, nieces, and daughters help remind us that life is a never-ending cycle moving forward. One of my favorites is a landscape view of a roomful of family members celebrating her mother's 80th birthday as her mother takes a photograph of Ms. Leibovitz taking the photograph.
This delightful book contains four other elements that are worthy of mention.
Ms. Leibovitz is very aware that much of the appearance of celebrities is artifice rather than reality. She makes that point beautifully in the "before" and "after" images of Susan McNamara and Linda Green in Las Vegas in 1996 which show ordinary women transformed into "show girls." Even more eloquently, she captures that artifice in a single photograph of President George W. Bush and his key advisors at the start of his presidency looking like posed characters from a poster for a new move, Conquering Faultless Heroes of the White House.
Another astonishing dimension is her ability to turn landscapes into God's works of art. I agree with her assessment that the shooting in Monument Valley didn't turn out all that well, but the other landscapes in the book are terrific . . . if too few in number. I hope Ms. Leibovitz will do more of this kind of work in the future.
She has a strong sense of place to makes these landscapes work. That same sense works well in her photographs of stunning locations with buildings on them, such as her country home that she developed from a virtual ruin.
There's a sense of humor that's remarkable. Buildings seem to bring it out the best. The stunning Guggenheim museum in Bilbao is revealed in its mortal roots by a foreground of construction in progress.
9/11 also appears in images that capture the emotions we all felt on that day and immediately thereafter.
If I had to pick one photograph that best captures the book, it would be the cameo shot of Willie Nelson that highlights his personality and history through his deeply lined face.
If a great portrait photographer can wring powerful meaning from people she barely knows, imagine what she can do with those she knows and loves. That's the exciting door that Annie Leibovitz opens for us in publishing A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. Walk through that door, and you'll never be the same.
While there are many wonderful celebrity portraits in the volume, those mostly pale my comparison to the intimate portraits from Ms. Leibovitz's personal life. In many ways, Ms. Leibovitz's life is both mundane and extraordinary . . . and these images help us see more deeply into both.
As she hints in the introduction, Ms. Leibovitz sees each person as small and fleeting in terms of the universe . . . but large and important in the moment terms of the uniqueness of that person and that moment for those whose lives are touched at the time. The iconic photographs of Susan Sontag dwarfed by the opening to Petra in Jordan and sitting on the Great Pyramid capture this sense beautifully. But so do photographs of celebrities (like Cindy Crawford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Carrey, and Sylvester Stallone) looking as they never looked before or since.
Ms. Leibovitz is unafraid to reveal herself which adds to the dynamic of this book themed around the fleeting nature of human life. You'll see her partially undraped with camera in hand creating a series of four self portraits. The serious look in her eyes belies the sensuality of her torso. Having chosen motherhood in her fifties, you'll also see her fully exposed in her pregnant state in a portrait that echoes the famous magazine cover of a pregnant Demi Moore.
More significantly, she reveals the deep caring that she felt for Susan Sontag during their years together before Ms. Sontag succumbed to cancer. That painful downward path is thoroughly portrayed in rich texture.
The same theme of mortality is carried forth in a series of photographs of her parents that culminate in her father's death. Her mother's decline from a sprightly grandmother into an aging widow is also well documented.
Vibrant images of family life, siblings, nieces, and daughters help remind us that life is a never-ending cycle moving forward. One of my favorites is a landscape view of a roomful of family members celebrating her mother's 80th birthday as her mother takes a photograph of Ms. Leibovitz taking the photograph.
This delightful book contains four other elements that are worthy of mention.
Ms. Leibovitz is very aware that much of the appearance of celebrities is artifice rather than reality. She makes that point beautifully in the "before" and "after" images of Susan McNamara and Linda Green in Las Vegas in 1996 which show ordinary women transformed into "show girls." Even more eloquently, she captures that artifice in a single photograph of President George W. Bush and his key advisors at the start of his presidency looking like posed characters from a poster for a new move, Conquering Faultless Heroes of the White House.
Another astonishing dimension is her ability to turn landscapes into God's works of art. I agree with her assessment that the shooting in Monument Valley didn't turn out all that well, but the other landscapes in the book are terrific . . . if too few in number. I hope Ms. Leibovitz will do more of this kind of work in the future.
She has a strong sense of place to makes these landscapes work. That same sense works well in her photographs of stunning locations with buildings on them, such as her country home that she developed from a virtual ruin.
There's a sense of humor that's remarkable. Buildings seem to bring it out the best. The stunning Guggenheim museum in Bilbao is revealed in its mortal roots by a foreground of construction in progress.
9/11 also appears in images that capture the emotions we all felt on that day and immediately thereafter.
If I had to pick one photograph that best captures the book, it would be the cameo shot of Willie Nelson that highlights his personality and history through his deeply lined face.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.2 out of 5 stars
117 reviews
68 of 70 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Shoot t the graphic design team
Mar 23 2007
By J. LEFEVER
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
After seeing the exhibition (which was fantastic) the book was a sad let down for me and I returned it. Photos were cropped detroying the ambiance or the layout Leibovitz captured and aparently intended in her prints - photos were designed across a spread in such a way as interfered with the photo's integrity (one photo in particular has the page split running through the subject of the photo!). The personal photos of Sonatag in the show were very small and suggested a particular delicacy and intimacy which was lost in the book due to the relative sizing of those prints with all the others. It is a poor accompaniment to an excellent and important show of her work. If you never saw the show - you could propably let it slide - after seeing the show myself, I prefer not to have my memory tainted by an inferior product serving as representation.
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
In the Gutter!
Mar 21 2007
By A. Novak
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
GREAT PHOTOS BUT ANNOYING TO LOOK AT!!!! Visually this book is claustrophobic. The images seem forced to fit into a book that is too small to hold them. And probably half of the pictures are across the gutter--very annoying. Sometimes the most important part of the picture is in the gutter. My personal favorite is Michael Jordan with his nose in the gutter. Random House, if you are going to do a book on a great photographer like Annie Liebovitz, do a better job than this.
74 of 89 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Annie Liebovitz - A Rare Glimpse of her Life
Oct 14 2006
By Dana49
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Annie Liebovitz, one of the world's most talented photographers, has released a book that is not as much an exhibit of her world-renowned photography as it is an open expression of her love for family and close friends. The famous people that we've come to expect from a Liebovitz release are still there, although extremely limited. This is more a baring of Annie's soul and personal feelings that one has rarely had the opportunity to see and feel. If you're buying this book for the usual Annie Liebovitz material, you would do best to ignore this release. If you're wanting to see a side of this photographer that the world has rarely seen, please don't hesitate to make the purchase.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
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