Annie Leibovitz

3.1. 1970-1983: Rolling Stone

Leibovitz's professional career began in 1970 when she returned to the United States and joined Rolling Stone magazine as a staff photographer. Her talent quickly became apparent, and in 1973, publisher Jann Wenner appointed her as the magazine's chief photographer, a position she held for a decade. During her tenure at Rolling Stone until 1983, Leibovitz's intimate and candid photographs of celebrities became a defining characteristic of the magazine's visual identity. She was instrumental in shaping the "Rolling Stone look" through her unique approach, which often involved bold primary colors and unusual poses. She photographed 142 covers for the magazine during this period.

While working for Rolling Stone, Leibovitz discovered the possibility of balancing her professional assignments with personal work, particularly photographing her own family, which she considered paramount. She emphasized the importance of capturing intimate moments with loved ones, stating that such work requires subjects who "open their hearts and souls and lives to you." She also photographed the Rolling Stones in San Francisco in 1971 and 1972, and served as the concert-tour photographer for the Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75. Her favorite photo from the tour was a picture of Mick Jagger in an elevator.

One of her most iconic and historically significant photographs from this period is the portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. On December 8, 1980, Leibovitz conducted a photo shoot with Lennon for Rolling Stone, promising him the cover. Initially, she attempted to photograph Lennon alone as the magazine requested, but Lennon insisted that both he and Yoko Ono appear on the cover. Leibovitz then sought to re-create the intimacy of the kissing scene from the couple's Double Fantasy album cover, a picture she admired. She asked Lennon to remove his clothes and curl up next to Yoko on the floor. Leibovitz recounted that she told Yoko to "Leave everything on," not initially conceiving the final image. She observed Lennon clinging to Yoko, feeling he looked cold, and noted the powerful emotional impact of the scene. Both Lennon and Ono were highly excited upon seeing the first Polaroid, with Lennon exclaiming, "You've captured our relationship exactly. Promise me it'll be on the cover." Leibovitz shook on the promise. Tragically, Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph Lennon; he was shot and killed five hours later. About a month after his death, Rolling Stone featured this poignant "last image" on its cover for grieving music fans. This photograph was later re-created in 2009 by John and Yoko's son Sean Lennon posing with his girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, with the male/female roles reversed. It was also pastiched by Henry Bond and Sam Taylor-Wood in 1993.

3.2. 1983-2000: Vanity Fair and Vogue

In 1983, Leibovitz transitioned to Vanity Fair magazine, where her innovative style, characterized by sophisticated lighting techniques, bold color palettes, and dynamic, often theatrical, poses, further evolved. Her work for Vanity Fair contributed to the magazine's status as a trendsetter.


Beyond editorial work, Leibovitz also engaged in commercial photography. She photographed celebrities for an international advertising campaign for American Express charge cards, which earned a Clio award in 1987. In 1991, Leibovitz achieved a significant milestone by mounting an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. She was the second living portraitist and the first woman to have her work displayed there. In the same year, the French government recognized her contributions to the arts by making her a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres^French. Also in 1991, Leibovitz famously emulated Margaret Bourke-White's feat by climbing onto one of the eagle gargoyles on the 61st floor of the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, where she photographed dancer David Parsons cavorting on another eagle gargoyle. Noted Life photographer and picture editor John Loengard captured a gripping photo of Leibovitz during this daring shoot. In 1994, Leibovitz photographed Carl Lewis for Pirelli's famous Power Is Nothing Without Control advertising campaign, with one notable image featuring Lewis crouched in a sprinting position while sporting bright red stilettos. In 1996, Leibovitz was chosen as the official photographer for the Atlanta Olympics, where she photographed athletes including Michael Johnson, and these black-and-white portraits were compiled into her book Olympic Portraits. In 1998, Leibovitz began working regularly for Vogue, expanding her portfolio into fashion photography.

3.3. 2000-present

The 21st century has seen Leibovitz continue to produce significant bodies of work, including major exhibitions, advertising campaigns, and personal projects.

In 2007, the Brooklyn Museum hosted a major retrospective of Leibovitz's work, titled Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005. This exhibition was based on her book of the same name and featured a blend of her professional celebrity photographs and numerous personal photographs of her family, children, and partner Susan Sontag. The show, which was expanded to include three official portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, subsequently toured to seven locations, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. In February 2009, the exhibition moved to Berlin, Germany. This comprehensive show included 200 photographs and notably focused on her personal life and photographic endeavors.

Leibovitz has also undertaken various other projects in this period. In 2007, The Walt Disney Company commissioned her for a series of photographs featuring celebrities in various roles and scenes for the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts "Year of a Million Dreams" campaign. In 2011, she was nominated for Asia Pacific Photographer of the Year alongside Singaporean photographer Dominic Khoo and Wing Shya. That same year, Leibovitz held an exhibit in Moscow, where she discussed her photography style in an interview with Rossiya 24. In 2014, she photographed Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, and their daughter North West for an article in Vanity Fair. The New-York Historical Society also mounted an exhibit of her work in 2014, based on her 2011 book, Pilgrimage. From January 2016 to February 2017, her exhibition "WOMEN: New Portraits," commissioned by UBS and reflecting the changing roles of women, was shown in 10 cities worldwide. In 2017, Leibovitz launched an online photography class titled "Annie Leibovitz Teaches Photography." In January 2018, a Vanity Fair cover photo she took of actress Reese Witherspoon drew criticism online for image manipulation that appeared to show Witherspoon with three legs. From February to April 2019, the "Annie Leibovitz. The Early Years, 1970-1983: Archive Project No. 1" exhibition was held at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2025, Leibovitz produced several portraits for the television series The Chosen.

In 2015, Leibovitz served as the principal photographer for the 2016 Pirelli calendar. This marked a significant departure from the calendar's traditional style, as Leibovitz chose to focus on admirable women rather than emphasizing sexuality. The calendar featured notable figures such as Amy Schumer, Serena Williams, and Patti Smith. Leibovitz had previously contributed to the 2000 Pirelli calendar.

In 2023, IKEA commissioned Leibovitz to create a series of 25 portraits that would "illuminate the nuances of 'life at home'." This project aimed to capture diverse aspects of domestic life through her lens.

From September 16, 2023, to January 29, 2024, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art hosted "Annie Leibovitz at Work," a comprehensive exhibition showcasing over 300 images spanning more than 50 years of her career. Vogue magazine described the show as a "sweeping retrospective" that included celebrity portraiture, images from Vogue and Vanity Fair, and historical moments like the Apollo 17 launch and Watergate. The exhibition also featured more personal elements, such as a table piled high with photo books and a collection of "cheeky Polaroid snaps of policemen who have ticketed Leibovitz over the years for driving too fast in her '63 Porsche on California's Highway 5." The relaxed format of the display was noted to feel akin to a tour of her studio.

6.1. Children

Leibovitz is a mother to three daughters. She gave birth to her first daughter, Sarah Cameron Leibovitz, in October 2001, when she was 52 years old. Her twin girls, Susan and Samuelle, were born in May 2005 via a surrogate mother.

6.2. Relationships

Leibovitz maintained a profound and influential relationship with the acclaimed writer and essayist Susan Sontag from 1989 until Sontag's death in 2004. During Sontag's lifetime, the exact nature of their relationship was not publicly disclosed, leading to speculation about whether it was a platonic friendship or romantic. However, after Sontag's passing, Leibovitz became more open about their bond. In 2006, Newsweek magazine noted their decade-plus relationship, stating that they first met in the late 1980s when Leibovitz photographed Sontag for a book jacket. Although they never lived together, they each had apartments within view of the other's. When interviewed for her autobiography A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005, Leibovitz described the book as telling various stories, and "with Susan, it was a love story." While The New York Times in 2009 referred to Sontag as Leibovitz's "companion," Leibovitz herself wrote in A Photographer's Life: "words like 'companion' and 'partner' were not in our vocabulary. We were two people who helped each other through our lives. The closest word is still 'friend'." Despite this, she later clarified, "Call us 'lovers'. I like 'lovers.' You know, 'lovers' sounds romantic. I mean, I want to be perfectly clear. I love Susan."

6.3. Religion

When asked about the importance of her Jewish heritage, Leibovitz stated, "I'm not a practicing Jew, but I feel very Jewish."

8.1. Queen Elizabeth II photoshoot

In 2007, the BBC faced criticism for misrepresenting Leibovitz's portrait session with Queen Elizabeth II for her official picture during a state visit to Virginia. This session was filmed for the BBC documentary A Year with the Queen. A promotional trailer for the film showed the Queen reacting incredulously to Leibovitz's suggestion that she remove her tiara to appear "less dressy," with the Queen stating, "less dressy? What do you think this is?" The clip then immediately cut to a scene of the Queen walking down a corridor, telling an aide, "I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this, thank you very much." The BBC later apologized, admitting that the sequence of events had been misrepresented; the Queen was, in fact, walking *to* the sitting in the second scene, not storming off from it as the BBC implied by the edited order of the scenes. This incident led to a BBC scandal and a shake-up of ethics training. However, a 2015 article in The Times presented a slightly different account, stating that the Queen was indeed both incredulous at being asked to remove her crown (as "no-one tells her what to do") and insulted, given that the item was merely a tiara.

8.2. LeBron James / King Kong photoshoot

In 2008, Leibovitz orchestrated a photoshoot featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen for the cover of Vogue. This cover was historic as it marked the first time a black man appeared on the cover of Vogue. However, the image quickly drew controversy due to its depiction of James posing with his hand around Bündchen's waist, which many found to be strikingly similar to a poster of King Kong holding onto Fay Wray. Critics, including Jemele Hill, argued that the gorilla-like pose played into harmful racial stereotypes. Magazine analyst Samir Husni believed the photo was deliberately provocative, stating on Today, "So when you have a cover that reminds people of King Kong and brings those stereotypes to the front, black man wanting white woman, it's not innocent." The Fashion Post magazine later ranked it as the third-most controversial Vogue magazine cover ever published.

8.3. Miley Cyrus photoshoot

On April 25, 2008, Entertainment Tonight reported that 15-year-old Miley Cyrus had posed "topless" for a photoshoot with Vanity Fair. The photograph and accompanying behind-the-scenes images showed Cyrus with her bare back exposed, but her front covered by a bedsheet. The photograph was taken by Leibovitz. The full photograph was published with an accompanying story on The New York Times website on April 27, 2008. On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that despite the impression of bare breasts, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was not actually topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, and a Disney spokesperson described it as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." In response to the widespread circulation of the photo and the ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about." Leibovitz also issued a statement, saying: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted.... The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."