Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Independent Staff

Annie Leibovitz: A photo album of American culture

Annie Leibovitz

When Benedikt Taschen asked one of the most important portrait photographers working today, Annie Leibovitz, to collect her pictures in a Sumo-sized book, she was intrigued by the challenge.

The project took several years to develop and when it was finally published in 2014, it weighed in at 26kg.

This collection is now available in an accessible format. Leibovitz drew on more than 40 years of work, starting with the photojournalism she did for Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s through the conceptual portraits she made for Vanity Fair and Vogue. She selected iconic images – such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono entwined in a last embrace – as well as portraits that had rarely, if ever, been seen before.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, New York City, 8 December 1980 (Annie Leibovitz)
Steve Martin, Beverly Hills, 1981 (Annie Leibovitz)

The book covered political and cultural history, from the Queen and Richard Nixon to Laurie Anderson and Lady Gaga.

“What I had thought of initially as a simple process of imagining what looked good big, what photographs would work in a large format, became something else,” Leibovitz says.

Richard Nixon leaving the White House after his resignation as president in Washington DC, 1974 (Annie Leibovitz)
John Cleese, London, 1990 (Annie Leibovitz)

“The book is very personal, but the narrative is told through popular culture. It’s not arranged chronologically and it’s not a retrospective. It’s more like a roller coaster.”

The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi), Hollywood, 1979 (Annie Leibovitz)
Ellen DeGeneres, Kauai, Hawaii, 1997 (Annie Leibovitz)
‘Annie Leibovitz’ is now available in an unlimited XXL edition (Annie Leibovitz)

You can purchase ‘Annie Leibovitz’ here

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.