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Annie Leibovitz At Work (2008)

by Annie Leibovitz(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0375505105 (ISBN13: 9780375505102)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Random House

review 1: I came by this book because some friends had recommended that I might study Annie Leibovitz with my students for this year's Hollywood theme. I had never heard of her and wanted to see and hear more. I did realize from internet research that I was familiar with a few of her photos without knowing her name. I found this story of the progression of her work to be an easy read and very interesting. My favorite images and accompanying stories were one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono from 1980, Meryl Streep from 1980, Steve Martin from 1981, Keith Haring from 1986, the Sopranos cast modeled after The Last Supper from 1999.I resonated with some of her insights about her art:"As much as I love pictures that have been set up, and as important as those pictures are to me, I'd rathe... morer photograph something that occurs on its own. The tension between those two kinds of photographs is at the heart of what I do. It's not a conflict, but sometimes it's useful to remember that things are happening right in front of you and that you don't have to complicate the situation. You can take what's given to you. You just need your mind and your eye." (pg. 158)"When I'm asked about my work, I try to explain that there is no mystery involved. It is work. But things happen all the time that are unexpected, uncontrolled, unexplainable, even magical. The work prepares you for that moment. Suddenly the clouds roll in and the soft light you longed for appears." (pg. 196)"It's a collaboration. Especially if you're working with an entertainer, an actor or a comedian. I never make people do anything. But I'm the photographer. It's a photo session. A lot of it is about play. Painting the Blues Brothers blue, for instance. Or giving a subject a role, a fantasy, to act out. I'm interested in getting something unpredictable, something you don't normally see. Even so, when the picture starts to happen, it's often a surprise." (pg. 216)
review 2: Super entertaining, just like Leibovitz's work. Her creativity really comes across and she has done a lot with her life. I'm bored with reading at the moment so I was glad to find something that I enjoyed. The text has a lot of stories about her shoots and subjects, most of whom are famous people. I think I enjoyed the story of her experience photographing the Queen most, which was full of a certain monarchial immovability, followed with the behind the scenes "drenched in sleaze" experience of covering the OJ Simpson case. I could tell that some things were left out and it's not going to be especially 'real' for obvious reasons but it's a great light read. The photographs are great, too, of course. She talks some about the cameras and equipment she used along the way but it's not dry and too technical. less

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Reviews (see all)

vaishnavi

I picked this one up on a whim when I saw it on a reshelving cart at work. I had been peripherally aware of Annie Leibovitz & her work, but didn't know much about her or her career. While this book didn't delve into her personal life too much, I feel like I did learn a bit about the path of her career as she framed it through different shoots or types of shoots. In all, I found her work & journey fascinating. She comes across as thoughtful and determined, if not a bit distant. The images I found myself drawn to were those of her family, following political trails (with Hunter S. Thompson & beyond, and war scenes. The portraits are lovely, of course, and I enjoyed the stories behind them.

manderc1

Fantastic. Annie Leibovitz walks you through her career and explains her process and philosophy. I never knew she began at Rolling Stone and enjoyed having a more complete picture of her origins as an artist. I particularly enjoyed hearing how much research she does before she meets with her subjects. She often gives the backstory behind the photo, which allows you to see even photos you already were familiar with from a new perspective. She's worked damn hard to be good at what she does. Highly recommend.

Mari

Finished 5/5/2014. Very interesting book with good photographic insights.

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