Historic Photographer

For this Assignment I have partnered with Kevin Cox and we have decided to do our blog on photographer Annie Leibovitz because of her with work with many notable people and her work with Rolling Stone magazine. We also like her interesting style of photography by almost catching her subjects in a simple but intimate form and at time controversial . For example some of her subjects have been John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Warhol, and countless other personalities.

Not only did she do photographs for Rolling Stone Magazine she also served as a concert- tour photographer for the Rolling Stones in 1975, as a featured portrait photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue, did the advertizing campaign for American Express and has also has published 6 books of her various works.




Annie Leibovitz was born in Connecticut in 1947. In 1969 she went to King Solomon’s temple in Israel. In 1970 she had her first photograph published by the magazine “Rolling Stone.” She graduated in 1971 and became “Rolling Stones’ principal photographer later in 1973. Her main photography influences were Henri-Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank.

She went on tour with the Rolling Stones in 1975 where she became their official photographer for their world tour. Much of her work is referenced from the time she spent with the Stones.

Shortly before John Lennon’s death in 1980, Leibovitz took a picture of Lennon naked with Yoko Ono, which is now a very famous picture. After all, it was the last picture before the murder.

In 1983, Leibovitz became the first contributing photographer to “Vanity Fair”, producing several portraits throughout the years. In 1984 she was named photographer of the year by the American Society of Magazine Photographers.

In 1985 she photographed the World Cup Games in Mexico. 1987 is when she produced the ‘Portraits’ campaign for American Express. This production won her many awards including the Decade award from Advertising Age (1987).

She opened her own studio in New York City in 1990 and shortly after received the Infinity Award for applied photography from the International Center for Photography. She became one of only two living photographers to have an exhibition of her work at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Finally, in 1999 she was made a member of the Art Directors Club ‘Hall of Fame’.