Nicole Kidman, New York, 2003, chromogenic print Courtesy of Vogue
Lasting impressions of Leibovitz
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ: A PHOTOGRAPHER’S LIFE, 1990-2005 National Portrait Gallery
FOR the first time, the works of arguably the world’s most famous photographer will go on show all in one place. With more than 150 images, A Photographer’s Life is the most comprehensive collection of her work, showing iconic public figures, along with more intimate photographs of her family and friends.
Leibovitz famously confessed to not being able to separate her public persona from her private life and this exhibition is the fruit of this tension.
For the celeb-hungry, there is a feast of faces as you’ve never seen them before. Jamie Foxx, Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino, Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt are among a star-studded cast. But perhaps the more interesting side of the former Rolling Stone snapper are the pictures from her own life.
Revealing everything from the birth and childhood of three daughters, holidays, reunions and other rites of passage, it provides a remarkably candid window on one of the most revered artists of our time. As well as the personal there is the political, with reportage pieces from the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s to the election of Hillary Clinton to the US Senate, showing just how versatile and enduring photographer Leibovitz has proved to be. Not to be missed.
• Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005 is at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, WC2 until February 1.