Annie Leibovitz

     Annie Leibovitz is primarily a freelance commercial photographer who's life is her whole subject as she is constantly taking photographs on varying formats such as medium format and digital. Leibovitz describes a photographers life as "A life looking through a lens" which is how her life is as she tries not to say no to any jobs that she is offered which has gained her attention from high profile celebrities which she is so well known for photographing. She has travelled all over the word for work in the fashion and portrait industry with a large team of stylists, light technicians and assistants to help her set up each photograph and ensure that they are perfect. People have described her work as "daring" however this has always gone on to please producers and clients alike who love her style and creativity. American actors and politicians make up the majority of her cliental as well as other famous faces within the celebrity industry.
     Leibovitz des two sorts of work, both magazine work and personal pictures of her home life where she has to balance looking after her 3 children and her high demand in the photography industry which requires her to travel a lot. Her family describes Annie's camera as another member of the family as photography is and always has been a min focus of her life. Leibovitz began further education studying painting at San Francisco Art Institute until she did a module in photography within the course and instantly clicked and fell in love with it. The first photographers who she looked at when she began photography were Robert Frank and Cartier Bresson who had a huge influence on her work as she was just starting out and actually made her see that she could travel the world with a purpose from the inspiration of the two photographers she was looking at.
     In the late 1960's Leibovitz went to work for 'Rolling Stones' magazine which she had grown up with and still went to work for them. The publishers said that she had great imagination and it was the first time that she had worked with a team which she loved and working for the magazine was an amazing experience. She said that the people she worked with "shaped who she was and influenced her  massively" and was also given many opportunities because of her eagerness and enthusiasm towards photography and her work and this was proven to everyone else when she took the pictures of The Beatles as she had good observation. Working with writers and all different kinds of professionals gave Leibovitz experience and another perspective on the world in the form of documentary style photography including political images. She said that "The best photographs are those that are around you, you need to be familiar with your surroundings and subjects. You need to become a part of what is around you so you can take the pictures that you want to take naturally and with ease." She had good communication with all of her documentary subjects which developed her personal and social skills. These skills drew people towards her friendly character as they thought that she felt like 'one of the gang'. People years ago were more relaxed around photographers as they would spend a lot of time and hang out together, usually with celebrities or other famous people, most of the time which worked in Annie's favour as she was also one of the first female photographers doing this sort of thing however she had to be too careful not to get sucked in to other people lives that contained drugs and other destructive habits. This gained her life long friendships out o the many shoots that she did, especially dancers which she liked to photograph the most at that time.