Annie Leibovitz

            When first seeing Annie Leibovitz’s Vanity Fair pictures flash onto the screen it’s an instant visual pleasure. Vivid colors, beautiful costumes, extravagant props, and of course the dazzling and familiar face of a celebrity in the middle of it all. She’s one of the most sought after photographers in the country and travels to foreign places to photograph the world’s most beloved writers, politicians, musicians and movie stars. The journey to this stardom wasn’t easy for Leibovitz though. Death, drugs and rehab were all part of her life, but these obstacles only made her into the strong and passionate women she is today. As a child Annie traveled all over with her family and dad who was in the Air Force. Eventually, she ended up in San Francisco living in a tiny apartment and studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. Work by Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson inspired her and she soon started taking pictures for fun, landing a few jobs here and there. Her first real job as a photographer was with Rolling Stone magazine, which was just getting off the ground at the time and had no idea it would become as big of a success as it did. Here she worked for 10 years, taking pictures of celebrities in the height of their fame. She captured not only the glamour of their lives, but also the hard reality of it, humanizing them. Drugs were very prevalent and Leibovitz hit her breaking point after going on tour with the Rolling Stones. She checked into rehab, sobered up and turned over a new leaf in her life.
            Her pictures became almost pieces of artwork and Rolling Stone readers looked for her signature work issue after issue. These pictures not only launched her career as a photographer, but also helped Rolling Stone become the famous magazine it is today. After her time with Rolling Stone, Annie began to work for a more high fashion magazine, Vanity Fair. Her amazing photographs with extensive sets quickly began making the covers. Around this time she met the writer Susan Sontag. They became instant friends, both drawn to each other’s work, critiquing and praising each other. Susan was often the subject of Annie’s personal photographs. Even when Susan was dying, Annie captured powerful and emotionally moving shots of her on her death bead and eventually in her coffin. Nowadays Annie can be found calling in whatever extravagance she may need to a photo shoot, ordering people around in a kind yet firm manner to get the perfect shot, and kissing celebrities checks. In the end though amazing works of art appear on newsstands around the world and Annie Leibovitz’s name lives on.