Annie Leibovitz is best known for her intimate celebrity portraits.
Read MoreBeginning her work in a more muted tone, Leibovitz's photos have evolved to become more colourful and dramatic. She uses the camera to capture opulent colour, careful staging, and dramatic natural and artificial light. This shift in her work can be seen in the contrast between the harmonious tones of Meryl Streep, New York City (1981) and the official portrait of the Obama family shot in 2009, which is more meticulously staged and lit.
Many of Leibovitz's portraits hint at elements of story or make tongue-in-cheek historical references. For example, her photographs of Angelina Jolie for the January 2007 and November 2015 issues of Vogue make references to classical sculpture and mythology. Leibovitz considers herself an avid historical researcher and intentionally imbues her work not only with pop-cultural significance, but also with layers of historical and narrative meaning.
The portrait of John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, taken just hours before Lennon was fatally shot outside of his New York residence on December 8 1980, is one of Leibovitz's most famous photographs. The portrait is a bird's eye polaroid of a naked Lennon curled around a fully clothed Ono. The photograph embodies the typical intimacy of Leibovitz's celebrity portraiture, capturing a vulnerable and private moment between Lennon and Ono. In the words of Lennon, the photo 'captured our relationship exactly.' The image became what is often considered the most iconic Rolling Stone cover.
Leibovitz has been no stranger to controversy. Her 1991 photograph More Demi Moore for the cover of Vanity Fair sparked widespread debate about the depiction of pregnancy and nudity.
The image shows Demi Moore, pregnant and naked except for jewellery, looking towards the camera lens. It is typical of Leibovitz's tender approach to her subjects. Although the photo was controversial at the time, it set the trend for celebrity pregnancy photoshoots to follow.
