Research

Annie Leibovitz

While looking for a photographer to research, there was one that caught my eye specifically. Her name is Annie Leibovitz, an American photographer who specializes in portraiture. She has had her photos featured on the cover of many magazines, specifically on Vanity Fair. Something else that she was known quite well for was photographing John Lennon the day that he was assassinated by a lone gunman. This image, in particular, is one of the ones that caught my eye.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono – Taken by Annie Leibovitz on December 8th, 1980

The image in itself is very interesting, quite strange and out of the ordinary, the difference between John Lennon himself being completely naked and Yoko Ono being fully clothed is rather unique. The simple explanation for this is that while John was completely okay with being fully naked, Yoko was not, so Annie suggested that she just kept everything on, which resulted in this unique contrast. This is the image that was taken on the day that John Lennon died. This fact in itself only adds to the value of the photo. In the image, John Lennon looks very much alive and well, brimming with energy, yet mere hours after the photo was taken, John Lennon was announced dead. It is able to stir emotions in the viewer, seeing someone who is no longer with us happy and spending time with someone that they loved. Annie described this as one of the images that helped shape her career.

This isn’t the only photograph that caught my eye. Annie has taken many photographs that snatch my attention. One more that I really liked specifically was one that she took of Whoopi Goldberg. This is the photo itself:

Whoopi Goldberg – Taken by Annie Leibovitz 1984

Annie was assigned to take this photo by Vanity Fair, who of which she has done much work for. The photo pokes fun at quite a sensitive topic, the general meaning of the image was joking about Whoopi using Chlorox to dye her skin. Annie used milk for the image after advised by a fellow photographer that it came out as a pure white in photographs. I like this photo for a couple reasons, the first being the comedic and laughable expression on Whoopi’s face, despite the image poking fun at quite a sensitive topic. Another thing I like about this photograph is that the political implications were intended, but her facial expression and pose was not. During the taking of the photograph, she had slipped into the bath, resulting in her disorganized and funny facial expression and pose. While it was accidental, it fits so well.