Annie Leibovitz | Extra-Credit

Annie Leibovitz delivered a very memorable lecture this past Thursday evening. From someone who had heard about Ms. Leibovitz only months prior to her arrival in Syracuse—I was star stuck. I had no clue she was such a talented photographer until seeing some of her work online, many of which talked about in the lecture. My favorite photograph of hers by far is the re-creation of the “Double Fantasy” album featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which made its way on the cover of Rolling Stones. I find this picture extremely provocative; yet intrinsically profound. The semiotics behind this photograph encapsulates a quality of human intimacy that perhaps cannot speak on a verbal level. Recently I have encountered many artists that emulate this similar idea of. Ruben Brulat, a French photographer I recently interviewed creates autoportraits of himself completely exposed in various exotic environments. He believes in the removal of all clothing, stripping down to his bare essentials to represent his inner humanity. His work often reminds me of the Lennon feature. What I find most gratifying about Ms. Leibovitz’s work is how versatile and distinct her collections are from each other. Often times I find photographers geared strictly towards a specific genre or style of subjects which I ultimately find very limiting. Ms. Leibovitz on the other hand has covered political movements from Richard Nixon’s resignation and Obama’s campaign to musicians such as B.B. King and even iconic celebrities (Kate Moss, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg). Regardless of who it is she is photographing, each picture contains such genuine ability that separates her work from the rest. When asked what her favorite photograph was, she did not have an answer. Instead she believes it is the “accumulation” of her body of work that gives her the most satisfaction.