Annie Leibovitz reveals facets of her private life

La Maison européenne de la photographie, until September 14

Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman, Barack Obama, Mick Jagger... Annie Leibovitz has photographed everyone who is anyone on the planet. A selection of her photographs is on display at La Maison européenne de la Photographie. In addition to pictures of celebrities, the show reveals facets of the artist's private life. An intimate work of joy at the birth of her daughters and pain at the death of her companion, Susan Sontag.

Translation Susan Taponier
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Nicole Kidman, New York 2003

Where are we? In a museum or on the sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard? It's hard to be sure, as you walk past Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johansson and Jim Carey. At 58, Annie Leibovitz has immortalized everyone who counts in the world of actors, athletes, politicians and CEOs. No one ever refuses to pose for her, even though the sessions are often difficult and interminable. Demi Moore found out just how demanding it can be when she agreed to a thirteen-hour make-up session to create a fake costume directly on her skin!

One could also argue that Leibovitz is the world's most famous living photographer. And the most expensive.

Annie Leibovitz began her career at Rolling Stone magazine in 1970. She went on to join Vanity Fair and Vogue. Some of her photographs have become legendary and are renowned all over the globe, such as the picture of John Lennon, naked, curled up with Yoko Ono, taken only a few hours before he was shot, or the one of Demi Moore, in the nude and eight months pregnant.

But the title of this exhibition, “A Photographer's Life”, is not merely a turn of phrase. For the first time, Annie Leibovitz allows us to penetrate her personal world where her family takes priority.

Patti Smith and children, Jackson and Jesse, St. Clair Shores, Michigan 1996

“I don't need many friends,” she explained in an interview for Le Monde. She grew up moving from one military base to another, wherever her father was assigned. During that period, she developed a very strong sense of family: “I have my loved ones, I have three daughters, they are my priority.”

In contrast to the color-saturated photos of Hollywood stars, the pictures of her personal life are in black and white. Some capture happy moments such as the birth of her daughters, but most portray pain and sadness. A world of dreams and beauty and a world of sorrow and suffering.

Susan Sontag, quai des Grands Augustins, Paris, 2003

The photographs of Susan Sontag, who was her companion for fifteen years, are especially moving. Taken at the hospital, they record the final moments of her life. “When the treatments failed, I forced myself to take pictures. Susan had a horrible, painful death. When you are frightened and anxious, you turn to what defines you. In my case, I had photography before I knew Susan, and I would have it after she was gone. I used it as a source of comfort.” She consulted Susan Sontag's family before publishing her book A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005. “I loved Susan, so I thought it was possible to show those moments.” Nevertheless, Annie Leibovitz thinks perhaps she has revealed too much, exposed herself too much, and has vowed never to do so again.

Read it in french :
-Annie Leibovitz livre une part de son intimité

Par Suzanne Green