1. By Jessica Fernandez Photography 120 Presentation Project
Annie Leibovitz
By Jessica Fernandez
Photography 120
Presentation Project

2. Biography
Born Anna-Lou Leibovitz on Oct. 2, Her father an air-force lieutenant and her mother a modern dance instructor. She grew up in parts all over the world and was already into arts at an early age. She went to the San Francisco Art Institute in to study painting at the age of 18, originally considering a job as a painting instructor, this is where she began to developed her love for photography. During a vacation from school she and her mother took a trip to japan where she bought her first camera and began taking pictures. When returning to school she enrolled into a photography night class. She stated “I was totally seduced by the wonderment of it all…to see something that afternoon and have it materialized before your eyes that same day. there was a real immediacy to it. I lived in the darkroom.”

3. Rolling Stone
Leibovitz continued snapping away images and soon developed a portfolio and in 1970, after the suggestion from a friend, she took her prints to Rolling Stone that was stationed in san Francisco. The magazine was just getting started. Jann Wenner, the magazine’s founder, was impressed by her work. He soon began giving her assignments paying her $47 a week even before she had graduated from the art institute. By 1973 she became chief photographer for Rolling Stone only 23 years old! Her reputation was then cemented by two subjects John Lennon and the English group The Rolling Stones.

4. Vanity Fair
In 1983 Leibovitz left Rolling Stone Magazine and began her new adventure with Vanity Fair, an entertainment magazine. She was able to work with a wider array of subjects and was now working more in color. She was able to work with Whoopi Goldberg, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen and countless others. During her earlier time with Rolling Stone she mostly worked in Black and White, now that color was being printed she would create elaborate images using light & color. She remembers, “When I was back in school, I wasn’t taught anything about lighting, I was only taught black and white. So I had to learn about color myself.”

5. Leibovitz has done many remake images of many famous Disney movies
Leibovitz has done many remake images of many famous Disney movies. Showing she is not afraid to use color and lighting. She creates scenes that are big, bold and unexpected.
Alice in Wonderland
Sleeping Beauty

6. This Susan Sarandon Portrait shows the simplicity of beauty
This Susan Sarandon Portrait shows the simplicity of beauty. The black and white choice allows sarandon’s pose to be a moment in time with the front lighting adding highlighting to her face gives this image truth.

7. This image of Ellen Degeneres was controversial and a statement piece
This image of Ellen Degeneres was controversial and a statement piece. Annie leibovitz is not scared to be critiqued and gives her audience images that speak loudly with daring poses. Even though this image is in soft light it still has a “in your face” feel.

8. Annie leibovitz: Life through a lens--trailer

9. At Last…
Annie Leibovitz is a photographer ahead of her time who has photographed hundreds of images of anybody who is somebody and in that has made her career be known to the world. She earned the Clio Award in 1987, has had a collection of over 200 color and black and white images exhibited and has published books of her work. She is said to be “quite recognizable”. She lives in New York city has 3 daughters and continues to work saying, “My longest relationship has always been my work. My work has always delivered for me…I’m happy doing exactly what I’m doing, I can do this the rest of my life, its only going to get better.”

10. Sources
Anna-lou leibovitz. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 6:38, Nov.30,2014, from
“Annie leibovitz.” Encyclopedia of World Biography Encyclopedia.com. 30 Nov. 2014