Life through a lens

Annie Leibovitz spent her childhood and youth in different states of the USA. During this time she experienced her first significant encounter with photography by way of her family's  photo albums. Her earliest role models among prominent photographers were Henri Cartier-Bresson and Jacques-Henri Lartigue. In 1970 Annie Leibovitz began her studies of fine arts and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute. In the same year she submitted a portfolio to the art director of Rolling Stone magazine, Robert Ingsbury, and scored her first success. Jann Wenner, publisher of the magazine, took the young photographer with him to New York, where she was to take pictures during an interview with John Lennon. Within one month her Lennon portraits were published on the cover of Rolling Stone. In 1973 Annie Leibovitz became chief photographer of this magazine until she switched  to Vanity Fair in 1983.
"It is really fun to take pictures with me. Sometimes I put people in mud. Sometimes I hang them from the ceiling." This is how Annie Leibovitz sees herself working. Indeed, her portraits of stars from the world of music, motion pictures, the theater, the arts, literature or politics catch the eye because of their original, lively arrangements. She does not portray a sober, serious hailing of the stars, rather she adds a dose of wit, humour, and irony to the picture. Leibovitz who is currently considered the American photographer of the stars, prepares her portraits sessions very meticulously and usually consults with her subjects many days prior to the portrait appointment date. Only because of her intense and personal interaction with her models is this photographer successful in cajoling her subjects into the desired, frequently fun and humorous poses.