Annie Leibovitz: Three is not a Crowd

Annie Leibovitz is one of the most sought after portrait artists today. Starting as a staff photographer for what was to become Rolling Stone magazine, she quickly developed a non-intrusive yet intimate style of photography which is evident in here more recent work, including her Vanity Fair photographs.

As she grew in experience, she became more daring and creative in her work, and her reputation steadily grew throughout the decades. Today, Ms. Leibovitz is known for her unique and sometimes controversial portraits (you can see her posing beside one of those controversial pictures, the portrait of a nude and pregnant Demi Moore in the early 90's).

From Hollywood to the White House, she's the go-to gal for celebrity portraits, and has become a Hollywood personality herself because of her consistently outstanding work and often lavish photo shoot productions. Her recent financial troubles regarding a multi-million dollar loan and the rights to all her photographs graced many entertainment headlines, and made her even more of a celebrity.

While you'll find a great deal of her work dealing with very striking solo portraits, I think her group photographs are a class apart and deserve special recognition. She is a master at group portraiture, making it seem like the most difficult subjects and settings are easy to photograph. Take for example the photograph below of former president George W. Bush and some members of his administration:

Regardless of what you may think of Mr. Bush, the picture itself is excellent. All the senior members are posed exactly right for this photo shoot; everyone sits, stands or leans confidently with a firm gaze towards the viewer. Mr. Bush's relaxed pose strikes a perfect balance against his colleagues' more formal stance, while at the same time exudes an impression befitting the Office of the President.

What I look forward most each year from Ms. Leibovitz is her series of group portraits featuring some of Hollywood's celebrities for Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue.

Below is one of those photographs, used as the cover for Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue 2001:

 At first glance, the group portrait is perfectly balanced. All the ladies are neatly posed in smaller groups of three, and layer each other in different levels of postures: some are leaning, some are sitting and some are standing, with no single person stealing the whole show. It does strike me that some of the their poses seem a bit awkward if you focus on only one actress, but they complement each other very well as a group.

This next one is from 2008 and featured the upcoming actresses of that time:

Again, you can see the same kind of arresting quality between the 2008 and 2001 photos. Everyone has their own place, and your eyes travel from one celebrity to another in a relatively equal fashion. You can also see how a carefully chosen color palette can affect the mood of the picture: it's elegant and at the same time quiet.

This last picture is one of my favorites and is from 2010:

Even with everyone seated or laid down on the lawn, there are different levels and sets among the group that balance the entire picture. It's as if this was an impromptu photo taken at a picnic, yet it's clearly planned and organized. The artificial lighting used also complements the sunlight well and doesn't draw attention away from the natural beauty of the girls. As with the previous photos, the colors are amazingly well thought out and draw your attention to the entirety of the group.

These are the kinds of photos that keep me inspired in my trade. I'm nowhere near as talented Ms. Leibovitz is at lighting and portraiture, but her style is something I would like to emulate in the future.

If anyone wants to learn more about Annie Leibovitz and these Vanity Fair group shots, I highly recommend the PBS documentary Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens.  A recent collection of her more recent works can found in her book A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005. A very good read describing her photography style can be found in Annie Leibovitz at Work.