Annie Leibovitz: Portrait Photographer Extraordinaire

Annie Leibovitz photographed John Lennon lying naked next to Yoko Ono (Rolling Stone cover, Issue #335, Jan. 22, 1981) in 1980 - the morning before Mark David Chapman killed Lennon using hollow point bullets from a Charter Arms .38 revolver. She photographed Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as the "Blues Brothers" with their faces painted blue (Rolling Stone cover, Issue #285, Feb. 22, 1979). She took a picture of Whoopi Goldberg from above in a bathtub full of milk. Demi Moore posed naked and pregnant for Leibovitz to create one of the most controversial cover photos of the day (Vanity Fair cover, Aug. 1991). The Atlantic committee for the Olympic Games invited her to make photographs during the 26th Olympian in the summer of 1996.

Annie Leibovitz worked for Rolling Stone magazine from 1970 until 1983. She shot 142 covers for Rolling Stone. The Rolling Stone web site has a slideshow of some of her covers. While working for Rolling Stone, Leibovitz had the opportunity to take pictures of some of the most famous musicians of that time - John Lennon, Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Linda Rondstadt, Bob Dylan, Bette Midler, Pete Townshend of The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and many more. Jane Fonda, Meryl Streep, Huey Newton are a few of the other cover photos she took for Rolling Stone.

After leaving Rolling Stone in 1983, Leibovitz began working for Vanity Fair magazine. In 1995, Leibovitz began photographing a three-page foldout cover of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue. Vanity Fair released the special Hollywood Issue every April from 1995 until 2004, then in March from 2005 until its last release in March 2007. Vanity Fair provides a slideshow of these photos on their web site.

Annie Leibovitz's work for Vogue is full of imaginative scenes she developed as showcases for the exquisite cloths the models wore. Some of her series of photography shoots for Vogue include "Alice in Wonderland" (Dec. 2003), "Beauty and the Beast" with Drew Barrymore (Apr. 2005), and "The Wizard of Oz" (Dec. 2005). She also did a series of photos that corresponded to the opening of the Sofia Coppola film "Marie Antoinette" (Vogue, Sept. 2006). For some of the "Marie Antoinette" photographs, she had the use of the beautiful Château de Versailles in France. All of these photographs are available to view on Vogue's online site style.com. The site has a search feature (bottom left corner) that makes it easy to find the photographs. Vogue presents each series in a slideshow format.

For Disney's 2007 celebration of "A Year of a Million Dreams", Annie Leibovitz created "The Disney Dream Portrait Series". This series includes six portraits:

1. "Where it all begins" - Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy, Abigail Breslin as fairy-in-training
2. "Where wonderland is destiny." - Byoncé Knowles as Alice, Lyle Lovett as The March Hare, Oliver Platt as The Mad Hatter
3. "Where every Cinderella story comes true." - Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella
4. "Where imagination saves the day." - David Beckham as Prince Phillip
5. "Where you're always king of the court." - Roger Federer as King Arthur
6. "Where you're the fairest of them all." - Rachel Weisz as Snow White

Disney has provided a special gallery from which to view these beautiful photographs.

In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip visited the United States for the fourth time since she became Queen in 1952. Their visit was part of the celebration that marked the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. Queen Elizabeth II sat for a formal photography session to commemorate the occasion. Her chosen photographer was Annie Leibovitz. The four photographs that the British Embassy wished the public to view are available on britainuse.com.

Photo Galleries:

1996 Olympics

Rolling Stone Covers

Vanity Fair Hollywood Covers

Vogue web site: view "Alice in Wonderland" photos

"The Disney Dream Portrait Series" Gallery

Queen Elizabeth II's official 2007 photographs