Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I always enjoy programs like this that show how other photographers work. This one was very well done. A lot of her work leaves me cold, but its well executed and its fascinating to see how its done. Mike Durling Original Message: ----------------- From: Peter Klein pklein@2alpha.net Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:41:53 -0800 To: lug@leica-users.org Subject: [Leica] Annie Liebovitz on PBS' "American Masters" I just watched it. Thought it was, on the whole, a very well-done film. It followed her evolution through the years, from edgy rock chronicler to glam celebrity imager. It didn't flinch from presenting not-so-rosy views about the celebrity culture she photographs, though it was (unavoidably) a bit infected with that culture's viewpoint itself. Plus, it was a really great ride back through the 60s rock scene. The notorious "On Photography" of Susan Sontag (written before they met) was mentioned briefly, but not how controversial it is among photographers. No mention was made of Sontag's second photography tome. I wonder if/how Sontag's about-face in the second piece was influenced by her relationship with Liebovitz and observation of her working. I have to say that I prefer much of Liebovitz' earlier work for Rolling Stone to the heavily staged, "cue the elephants" later stuff. When they discussed the John Lennon naked / Yoko Ono clothed photo taken hours before his shooting, I thought back to Margaret Bourke-White's last photo of Ghandi at the spinning wheel. Oh, and to be on topic, the film showed her photographing Mikhail Baryshnikov and her kids with what appeared to be a motorized M6. Other subjects were shot with the usual SLRs and some medium format gear. --Peter _______________________________________________ Leica Users Group. See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .