In Paris, US photographer Annie Leibovitz shows famous and not-so-famous faces
August 8, 2008
France welcomes Leibovitz, quirky but brilliant American photographer of media stars and the mundane
Annie Leibovitz is known the world over for the personality she brings out in her subjects, already personalities on the world stage, from Ella Fitzgerald to Queen Elizabeth II. This summer in Paris until September 14, she brings together an extraordinatu collection of over 200 prints. While Leibovitz has exhibited in France before, this collection contains photos shown for the first time in Europe. These are not only her famously well-known subjects but also intimate photos of the artist’s family and everyday life.
Organized by the Brooklyn Museum of New York, where it began its odyssey in 2006, the exhibition follows a chronological and thematic stream, assembling the two aspects of Leibovitz’s work; her private life are woven in with her public image. Leibovitz has been quoted as saying she makes no distinction between them. Certainly, as anyone who has seen the the scene depicting Leibovitz in the film “The Queen” can attest, she is known for treating the famous as though they were everyday folk. But most overlook her prickly personality, given that she is widely regarded as the best portrait photographer in the world.
In 2005, when the American Society of Magazine Editors unveiled “the 40 greatest magazine covers of the last 40 years,” they gave first place to a 1980 photograph of Yoko Ono and John Lennon that was taken for Rolling Stone on the day that he was murdered and second place to Vanity Fair’s pregnant Demi Moore wearing nothing but diamonds. Leibovitz shot both.
Leibovitz’s road to Paris and stardom began humble. Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, she went out West to study painting in San Francisco. In 1970, she started shooting rock-and-rollers for the pages of Rolling Stone. Now 58, she is an icon in American art, and France is welcoming her with open arms.
Portraits in the Paris exhibition show, of course, a number of celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Brad Pitt, but also athletes of the 1996 Olympic Games, artists and architects such as fellow photographer Richard Avedon, Brice Marden, Philip Johnson, Cindy Sherman, and Mikael Barishnikov. Other pieces include editorial shots published in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, photojournalistic coverage on Sarajevo in the early 90s, Hillary Clinton’s senate election, and 09/11. There are also some contemplative landscapes. All in all, this Paris exhibition of Annie Leibovitz’s work reveals her not only as a chronicler of the rich and famous, but as a sensitive artist determined to portray the souls of her subjects in her work, be they movie stars, mountains or mothers. The Musee Europeen de la Photographie is located at 5/7 rue de Fourcy in the Marais district of Paris. The opening hours are 11am to 8pm, Wednesday through Sunday.
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