1. Annie Leibovitz

2. Biography Annie leibovitz is an American portrait photographer who was born on the 2 nd of October 1949 making her 66 this year her passion for art started off with painting which led her to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1967 and this is where she developed her passion for photography She acquired her first job with a magazine Rolling Stone in 1970 where she was ini9tially just a staff photographer but within two years of her arrival she had impressed her employers so much she was promoted to chief photographer which was a title she held for 10 years. During her 12 years at this magazine she developed her signature photographic technique which involves bright colours and shocking poses, one of her most famous shoots during this time was of a naked john Lennon curled around his fully clothed wife, the image itself was taken just hours before his death. During 1973 Leibovitz left Rolling Stone to take photographs for the entertainment Vanity fair where she continued to create her often controversial portraits of celebrities which often featured on the cover of this magazine. Some of her most famous during her time at this magazine were, a shoot with a nude and pregnant Demi Moore, A half submerged in a bathtub of milk Whoopi Goldberg and maybe one of her most famous portraits is artist Keith Haring, who painted himself like one of his canvases for the photo. During the 80’s Leibovitz started working on high profile advertisements with her most notable being her American express “Membership campaign” which included well known celebrities such as Elmore Leonard, Tom Selleck, and Luciano Pavarotti This set of photographs earnt her a Clio award in 1987 By the time the 1990’s came around she was already considered one of the greatest portrait photographers in America, during this time she continued to grow having her work featured in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington and even being asked to be the official photographer for the summer Olympics in 1996 Today she often exhibits her work but still does fashion shoots for high profile magazines such as Vogue where she has shot images with Kiera Knightley, Lady Gaga and Andrew Garfield

3. This image has been inspired by the well known Hansel and Gretel fairy tale and was taken during Leibovitz’ Brothers Grimm tableau shoot for Vogue back in 2009 The photograph features actor Andrew Garfield, Singer Lady Gaga and Model Lily Cole. You are clearly able to see the depth within this image With Garfield and Cole being in the immediate foreground with Gaga slightly further into the mid-ground of the image, Not only do the Models create depth but the photographer has also used the fire depicted in the fairy tale behind Gaga in the centre, even further into the background is the walls of what looks like a barn. The edges of the fires entrance almost create the impression of a picture frame surrounding Gaga. The majority of the image is back-lit with the fire casting off these shades of orange and red to illuminate the image itself Which in turn give off the connotations of adventure and danger. This photo was used in an end of summer fashion shoot with the eggshell replacing the pure white of the clothing, This colour not only represents wealth but also goes with the overall theme of the oranges and red signalling autumn is on it’s way and everything is becoming darker. Instead of capturing the fire in sharp focus the photographer has allowed it to become overexposed thus not taking away from the focal points of the image. You are clearly able to see the high level of contrast within this image due to the darkness off the shadows but also the brightness of the whites and oranges

4. Another image taken for Vogue but this time during the 2005 December issue, The image captures actor Kiera Knightley as Dorothy, painter John Currin as the Tin Man, Another Painter Brice Marden As the Scarecrow and lastly Sculptor Jasper Johns As the Cowardly Lion, The image itself captures iconic items from both the real world and that of Oz with the yellow brick road and the red heels being from the story and the iconic new York skyline playing as the emerald city being from reality. The image is carefully set out with the characters being in the immediate foreground, The yellow brick road taking up the mid-ground and the emerald city spanning across he entire background of the image thus creating a broad depth of field within this image. Your eyes are drawn to the immediate focal point of Knightley turning her head so she’s in direct mode of address with the viewer Not only this but the rest of the characters are all dressed darkly whereas Knightley is dress in bright red and Ivory white. The ivory of the dress connotes the innocence of white but also the happiness of yellow with the pathway being in direct consensus with this, But the red of her outfit directly conflicts with this symbolising danger, this is backed up by the brown of the lion symbolising stinginess, the black of the scarecrow symbolising death and the dark grey of the tin man that is a moody and depressing colour. The fact that cloud covers all of the emerald city except from the empire state building could connote that this is their final destination

5. This portrait that is a medium close of Meryl Streep was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone in 1981, At this point in time Streep had only been acting for around 6 years. The fact that this makeup is predominately white with hints of red gives off the connotations of wholeness and power which in turn links with the fact she is an actress who is able to mould herself into any role which is also presented in the fact she is pulling off this almost mask of makeup. Streep is in focus within the foreground giving off a shallow depth of field due to this being the aspect of the image you are able to make out due to the fact the background being a bland colour which doesn’t clash with any of the prominent colours within the focal point of the image. The image seems to use ambient lighting due to the unnatural way the entirety of the image is lit creating very little shadow but the shadows which are created are at different angles. The image itself has a high level of contrast with the white of the makeup and shirt staying pure white but the darkness of her eyes and the shadow created by her hair being a solid darkness instead of fading to an almost grey like colour. The makeup used in this image frames Streep's face due to it clearly covering it entirely thus drawing your eyes to this part of the image, the face her arms and fingers are angled towards her face creating leading lines which also lead you to look at the face as a focal point of the image

6. This image of Leonardo DiCaprio was taken in 1997 for Vanity Fair and it’s unusual do to the fact the image is a landscape mid shot of the human subject, DiCaprio is not being centralised in this image but your eyes are still drawn to him due to him being on the line of the rule of thirds with his face being directly on a power point where two lines cross but not only because of this but also because of the leading lines which are created by the swans neck, head and beak. Within this image the subject is in clear focus with the background being out of focus thus creating a shallow depth of field within the image. There is a high level of contrast within this image which is clearly seen within the pure whiteness of the swan and the blackness of the jumper which the subject is wearing. The image itself seems to be naturally lit with the shadows all being at the same angle but it is hard to tell with the image being in black and white, but the fact that Leibovitz has de-saturated this photo completely means your eyes aren’t drawn to any aspect of colour which could’ve distracted you from the intended focal point of the image. Not only is the swan creating leading lines but it almost frames DiCaprio's face by being this bright white aspect of the image curling around the back of his neck. Despite the majority of the background being out of focus you are still clearly able to make out that it is a field which in turn adds a natural beauty o this image.

7. This image was taken for the 2009 December issue of American Vogue, The subject within the image is actor Cate Blanchett where two close ups of Blanchetts face have been laid side by side to create these two opposing portraits within one image. Despite the background being out of focus it still looks like an outside wall or bush of some sort which in turn gives off the impression that this image is naturally lit but not only this but the fact the background is out of focus with Blanchett being in clear focus means the image itself has a shallow depth of field. The fact that these two image by themselves would’ve meant the subject was centralised but due to these two image being put together it creates a unique rule of thirds where each face which would’ve been centralised is now directly on the rule of third lines with the eyes and mouths on each image being on the power point where two lines cross. With the image on the left being slightly larger than the one on the right your eyes are drawn to this image first where you see Blanchett is extremely happy which is in direct contrast with the image on the right where she is sad and looks almost as if she is about to cry. the fact that Leibovitz has de-saturated this photo completely means your eyes aren’t drawn to any aspect of colour which could’ve distracted you from the intended focal point of the image. Despite the fact there are no clear lines which lead you anywhere within the image there are ones which frame the entirety of the face whether it be the lines burrowing on each brow or the lines which sound both mouths and this in turn draws you to the main focal point of each image which are the eyes and mouth.