Limeshot – Graphic Design Sydney

Annie Leibovitz. Are there any words to describe her work? Are there any words to describe her subjects better than her work?

For those of you who don’t know her name, Annie took quite few very famous photos in her very long career.

In 1980 Rolling Stone sent Leibovitz to photograph John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who had recently released their album “Double Fantasy.” For the portrait Leibovitz imagined that the two would pose together nude. Lennon disrobed, but Ono refused to take off her pants. The resulting portrait shows Lennon nude and curled around a fully clothed Ono. Several hours later, Lennon was shot dead in front of his apartment. The photograph ran on the cover of the Rolling Stone Lennon commemorative issue. In 2005 the American Society of Magazine Editors named it the best magazine cover from the past 40 years.

Annie was also the genius behind Demi Moore’s naked and holding her pregnant belly photograph on the cover of Vanity Fair. The cover showing Moore — which then-editor Tina Brown initially balked at running — was named second best cover from the past 40 years.

I intend to feature more of her work in the weeks to come, but I’ll start with her Disney portrait series. They’re gorgeous photographs, sure; but what I’d like to emphasize is the way Annie’s work merges the personality of the subject with the Disney character they portray: the perfect, surreal beauty of Rachel Weisz as Snow White; the mischievousness of Whoopi Goldberg as the Genie; the maternal and oh-so-stylish Julies Andrews as a fairy; and of course the exotic Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine on Aladdin’s flying carpet. It becomes difficult to figure out whether it’s the celebrity embodying the fairytale character or the other way around. Annie Leibovitz always photographs the very essence of the person in front of her lenses. And for this I love her.

P.S. Click on the images to see the (very large) version. Most of them are suitable as wallpapers as well.

Rachel Weisz

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony

Julie Andrews

Jessica Biel

Roger Federer

Beyonce

David Beckham

Scarlet Johanssen

Whoopi Goldberg

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