Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949)

Annie Leibovitz, whose career now spans more than 40 years, is one of her generation's most entertaining and popular photographers. Primarily known for her provocative, humorous and insightful portraits of celebrities, such as her portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, New York City, 1981, taken on the same day that Lennon was killed, Leibovitz continues to enthrall present-day viewers with her personal artistic endeavors. Over the decades she has worked with an assortment of camera equipment and printing technology that includes C Prints, Cibachromes, Silver Gelatin, Platinum, Iris Ink-Jet, Chromogenic, and Epson Pigment Prints. Her subject matter is equally far ranging; oversize prints of Olympian contenders, Las Vegas showgirls, Sarajavo's war zone, and the O.J. Simpson's trial. A tireless worker, she has produced in the last decade the series "American Music," photographed Queen Elizabeth of England, and a paid tribute to her partner Susan Sontag who died in 2004.

In her most recent Pilgrimage series she photographed places of both national and personal importance, among them Walden Pond, Old Faithful, the Yosemite Valley and Niagara Falls. She also photographed essential aspects in the homes and possessions of distinguished Americans like Georgia O'Keeffe, Eleanor Roosevelt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Pete Seeger and other individuals who shaped her own artistic and cultural heritage.

Annie Leibovitz was born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1949. She studied painting and photography at the San Francisco Art Institute and spent time on a kibbutz in Amir, Israel. In 1973, when she was 24, she was hired by Rolling Stone Magazine where she worked as the magazine's chief photographer for ten years.

Leibovitz's photographs have been extensively featured in publications like Rolling Stone, Time, Life, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Foreign publications include Paris-Match and the London Sunday Times Magazine. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the American Society of Magazine Photographers awards for Best Photograph and Photographer of the Year, and the Photographer of the Year Award from the International Center of Photography. Her retrospective exhibit, “Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970-1990,” was the first one-woman exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. Her books include Pilgrimage (2011), Annie Leibovitz at Work (2008), Annie Leibovitz American Music (2003), A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 (2006), Women by Annie Leibovitz (2000), Annie Leibovitz: Photographs, 1970-1990 (1991), and Photographs Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990 (1983).

Liz Kay