Portraiture, identity and gender

Annie Leibovitz

Some things about Annie Leibovitz:

·        Uses lots of equipment on shoots

·        Has photographed lots of famous people such as the Queen, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp and Demi Moore

·        She researches her locations for the shoots in relation to her subjects

Leibovitz’s book ‘At Work’ describes in detail how she goes about her shoots but it’s the introducing chapter called ‘Presence and Charisma’ that I find most captivating as she explains how certain celebrities are cliché photogenic even though she fought against the subject for long time by going to shoots with a backup plan but with the right model a set can be transformed.  She says that it’s not always that the subjects are stereotypically beautiful but ‘there are quirky things about them that are also beautiful to photograph.

So although her book is about how she works she says a lot about how she portrays the identity of her subjects as people who are photogenic like being photographed, such as Johnny Depp and Kate Moss together, possible one of the best looking couple in history as the scene in the hotel room on the bed could appear sexual but instead its a beautifully romantic and sensual images.