Photographer to the Stars!

I've followed the career of Annie Leibovitz for decades and am excited to go up to San Francisco soon to see her new exhibit at the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum. For example...

L: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rob Besserer, Cumberland Island, Georgia, 1990. R: Susan's Shell Collection, King Street Sunporch, New York, 1990. Photographs © Annie Leibovitz

Want to know more about someone who understands the value of the lense PLUS the importance of photographing celebrities for her own publicity (with all due respect ... but it works!) Here's a little background on Annie and the exhibit - and notice the sponsor!!!

A Photographer’s Life was organized by the Brooklyn Museum, New York, and is sponsored by American Express®.  San Francisco is the final U.S. venue before the exhibition tours overseas.

Over 200 photographs are included in the exhibition, among them are portraits of the pregnant Demi Moore, Nelson Mandela in Soweto, and George W. Bush in the White House; searing photojournalism from the siege of Sarajevo; and haunting landscapes from the American West and Jordan. Leibovitz’s personal material reflects her talents in a way that differs from her public work, as demonstrated in the candid images of her parents and siblings, her three daughters, and her close friends.
   
Leibovitz documents birth, death, family life, celebrations, and nature. Using keen observational skills to craft her work, she approaches a subject with a personal point of view.  All of the images in the exhibition are included in the accompanying book of the same title published by Random House.
   
One of the most celebrated photographers of our time, Leibovitz has made witty, powerful images documenting American popular culture since the early 1970s. She started taking pictures in the late 1960s when she was studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, and she had her first photographs published by Rolling Stone in 1970.  She became the magazine’s chief photographer in 1973.  Ten years later Leibovitz began working for Vanity Fair, and then Vogue, creating a legendary body of work.  In addition to her magazine work, Leibovitz has created influential advertising campaigns for American Express, the Gap, Givenchy, The Sopranos, and the Milk Board. A retrospective of her work from the years 1970 to 1990 was presented at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the International Center of Photography in New York.

And, it's full circle for me as I used to market Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and there's a new one and Annie Leibovitz took the photos for a story Vanity Fair! Check out the video on their website:

Annie Leibovitz’s photo shoots on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, watch Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Steven Spielberg, Karen Allen, and Shia LaBeouf as they prepare for Indy’s triumphant return this May.