New Annie Leibovitz Photography Book
My mom gave me a copy of Annie Leibovitz’s new book, A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005 for Christmas. It’s a beautifully printed collection of her personal and professional work. It’s one of those books you want to savor and examine over the course of a Sunday afternoon. You’ll have to sit up with a pillow while you read it, though, because the book weighs like 40 pounds! I love looking at images from the personal collections of photographers. Not every image should be beautifully composed or exposed. They should capture a moments that are particularly significant or memorable to the photographer.
It’s funny, I read a review of this book on Amazon and the guy was going on about how it’s a disappointing collection because her personal work looks “ordinary.” Ok, well, I hope never to put any of my family members into a bath of milk and shoot their picture for 10 hours (her portrait of Whoopie Goldberg), or cover their hands with blood to illustrate their mad guitar skills (Pete Townsend) just for the sake of not being ordinary. Personal photographs are just that. No matter how gifted a photographer you might be, you will still want that candid shot of your mom or your child just being themselves.
When you admire an artist, it’s a rare treat to see what images they particularly value from their own portfolios. This book is great for showing Annie the woman, not just the photographer icon. It gave me insight into her photography and made me admire her more deliberate and theatrical work all the more. Thumbs up.
Responses and Conversations
When I was growing up I read every book I could find on Ansel Adams, studied all his well known prints and most of all-style.
Adams led to Stieglitz who led to O’Keefe.
The journey came to Henri Cartier-Bresson. Wonderful photographs from a simple, well-made, diminuitive Leica with very little else above skill.
He’s who I’d want to be when I grow up
I’ll have to check on this book next time Linda and I are at Barnes and Noble!
Comment by Rowland on January 3rd, 2007 at 4:34 pm
There’s an Annie Liebowitz special on PBS RIGHT NOW here in the Twin Cities on the American Experience series!
Comment by Rowland on January 3rd, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Shooooot, I missed it! I just checked TiVO, and there are no Annie-themed American Experiences coming up on our LA PBS stations. I’ll keep an eye out for it though. Was it any good?
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on January 4th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Hey Rowland, I found it! It’s set to TiVO. Blogged: http://ispeakfilm.dpblogs.com/2007/01/05/annie-leibovitz-on-pbs/
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on January 5th, 2007 at 9:06 am
It was about 90 minutes long and covered all of her life and work up till now. Very, very good show!
I remember many of her early Rolling Stones pictures and she talked a lot about that time in her life.
And of course they went into her relationship with Susan Sontag. It was hard watching her struggle with the loss. Wow.
Nice vignettes from Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinhem, Demi Moore and so many others.
You’re in for a real treat!
Comment by Rowland on January 5th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I also saw the PBS special. I thought it was great! The book is also good. I too think it was a special treat to see what photos Ann valued and why. I’m sure her personal candid photos of her loved ones are gold to her. Just like us all.Her work continues to inspire me. Now even more since seeing the PBS special and viewing her book.
Comment by ft lauderdale photographer on January 13th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I totally agree! I started watching the American Master’s show last night and it’s amazing (will finish watching it tonight). The show has lots of file video and interviews with various celebrities she’s photographed. There is even a section showing a shoot of the Marie Antoinette cast for Vogue. Watching her work and how she interacts with her subjects was really interesting.
Thank goodness for TiVO, I’ll have that special saved for a while.
Comment by Stephanie Simpson on January 13th, 2007 at 11:38 am