Annie get your camera

ANNIE LEIBOVITZ'S witty, powerful portraits have been appearing on magazine covers for more than 30 years, and she is recognized as one of the most celebrated photographers of our time. She was born in Waterbury, Conn., and spent her childhood on a succession of military bases. Her father was a career officer in the Air Force. While studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, she took night classes in photography and, in 1970, began doing work for Rolling Stone magazine. Her first major assignment was for a cover story on John Lennon. She became chief photographer for Rolling Stone in 1973. By the time she left the magazine 10 years later, she had shot 142 covers and published photo essays on scores of stories, including her memorable accounts of the resignation of Richard Nixon and the 1975 Rolling Stones tour.

Leibovitz joined the staff of Vanity Fair in 1983 and, in 1998, also began working for Vogue. In addition to her magazine editorial work, she has created a number of influential advertising campaigns, including one for the hit cable TV series, "The Sopranos." She has published several books, had her work exhibited widely, and is the recipient of many honors, including the Infinity Award in Applied Photography from the International Center of Photography and the Barnard College Medal of Distinction. She is a Commandeur in the French government's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005, in a compilation of the 40 top magazine covers of the past 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors, she was awarded both number one (the photograph of John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken for Rolling Stone the day Lennon was shot) and number two (the pregnant Demi Moore for Vanity Fair). She has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress and one of 35 "innovators of our time" by Smithsonian Magazine. Leibovitz lives in New York with her three children, Sara, Susan, and Samuelle.

"Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005" features approximately 200 photographs. These compelling images, in color and black and white, provide a rare glimpse into the wide range of subjects captured by Leibovitz. The exhibition encompasses work Leibovitz made on assignment as a professional photographer, as well as personal photographs of her family and close friends, most notably long-time companion Susan Sontag, the well-known American essayist, novelist, filmmaker, and activist.

"I don't have two lives." Leibovitz insists. "This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it." The photographer's personal material, images that many are less familiar with, reflect Leibovitz's talents in a way that differs from her public career. They document the birth of her three daughters and numerous events involving her large family, including the death of her father and Sontag within weeks of each other.

Leibovitz's recognizable portraits of public figures include the pregnant Demi Moore, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rob Besserer on Cumberland Island, Pres. George W. Bush with members of his Cabinet at the White House, Michael Moore at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, William S. Burroughs in Kansas, and Agnes Martin in Taos, as well as Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt, Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, and Merce Cunningham. Her assignment work encompasses searing reportage from the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s and a series of landscapes taken in the American West and Jordanian desert.

"This is a landmark exhibition of a major photographer's work," exudes Derrick Cartwright, executive director of the San Diego (Calif.) Museum of Art. "Few contemporary photographers can rival Annie Leibovitz in terms of sheer popularity and immediate familiarity. Her imagery compels deeper attention to the critical dimensions of photojournalism and has earned Leibovitz the respect of both her subjects and her peers."

"Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005" is on view at the San Diego Museum of Art through April 22 before traveling to Atlanta's High Museum of Art (May 12-Sept. 9), Washington, D.C.'s Corcoran Gallery (Oct. 13-Jan. 13, 2008), and San Francisco's De Young Museum (Feb. 9-May 11, 2008).

RELATED ARTICLE: Annie on Annie.

BY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

The death of loved ones. Going through my pictures ... was like being on an archaeological dig. The work I did on assignments for magazines and for advertisements was edited and organized, but I did not even know how much other material I had. I do not take a lot of purely personal pictures. My companion Susan Sontag ... used to complain that I did not take enough pictures. She would say that every other photographer she knew took pictures all the time. I would take a few rolls of film and throw them in a box and they would not be developed for months. Sometimes I would not even look at the contact sheets but, after Susan died, on Dec. 28, 2004, I began searching for photographs of her to put in a little book that was intended to be given to the people who came to her memorial service. The project was important to me, because it made me feel close to her and helped me to begin to say goodbye. I found so many things I did not remember or perhaps had not even seen before. I also began looking at all the photographs I had taken of the rest of my family. My father had been ill for some time, and I had flown down to Florida to be with him after spending Christmas in the hospital in New York with Susan. She died before I could get back. He died six weeks later.