{"id":6951,"date":"2022-10-25T20:15:06","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T20:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/?page_id=6951"},"modified":"2022-12-03T04:13:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-03T04:13:30","slug":"gordon-adelaide-martine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/liberatinglens\/gordon-adelaide-martine\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordon, Adelaide Martine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thesis & Background<\/h2>\n
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A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005<\/em><\/h1>\n

by Annie Leibovitz<\/h2>\n

In this project, I aim to explore the relationship between the photography of iconic, well-known people and places versus the intimate photos of one\u2019s closest friends and immediate family members through an imitation of Annie Leibovitz’s style. Leibovitz perfectly encapsulates the contrast between her personal and professional lives in her photo book, A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005<\/em>, leaving the audience with the final realization that they are actually one and the same. In this short video<\/a>, Leibovitz explains a more recent exhibition of her photographs from the photo book at a museum in Singapore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Two
“My brother Phillip and my father, Silver Spring, Maryland, 1988”\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leibovitz pairs her iconic portraits of celebrities such as Sylvester Stallone and Scarlett Johansson with intimate photographs of her family members, especially her aging mother and father, as well as with writer Susan Sontag, Leibovitz’s partner for fifteen years. Leibovitz writes that she began finding photographs for this work after Sontag’s death, while searching for photographs of her, in the book’s introduction. She also explains she “found so many things [she] didn’t remember or perhaps had not even seen before” during the search for photographs of Susan, including many family photographs (Leibovitz 1). Initially, Leibovitz didn’t intend to create a book of photography with familial and personal photographs so intwined with those she snapped on assignment. She states instead that “[she doesn’t] have two lives;” rather, all her photographs compose her life and therefore are included in this representation of her work from 1990 to 2005 (Leibovitz 2). The concept of photography as a culmination of all parts of one’s life is especially fascinating to me; in the “Methodology” section, I explain how I hoped to achieve this in my own photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Singer
“Patti Smith with her children, Jackson and Jesse, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, 1996”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her introduction, Leibovitz mentions her father’s career in the United States Air Force as a catalyst for her family’s constant moving around. She relates finding the perfect location for a photo shoot to her family’s driving around, following her father to his latest post. Additionally, Leibovitz mentions her mother’s love of dancing and playing the piano. Although her parents took photographs of Leibovitz and her siblings, she herself didn’t start taking photos until she was at the San Francisco Art Institute. An article by The Independent<\/a> mentions Leibovitz’s connection to her Jewish family and how it also represents her connections to Judaism. She said “I’m not a practicing Jew, but I feel very Jewish.” In this way, Leibovitz blends a more modern, secular approach to photography coupled with traditional portraits of her immediate Jewish family. As a Jewish woman, Leibovitz does not photograph specific aspects of Judaism except for the Jewishness of her family members. This is another method through which Leibovitz’s professional work blends with her personal photos – whether she happens to shoot a Jewish or a non-Jewish celebrity, there is no real difference in her photography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"One
“My parents with my sisters Paula and Barbara and Paula’s son Ross, Peter’s Pond Beach, Wainscott, Long Island, 1992”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

As the Brooklyn Museum opened an exhibit of Leibovitz’s photographs on October 20th, 2006, not long after the book’s publication, similar interest was paid to the arrangement of photographs chosen for the exhibition as well as to that of the book’s composition. The New York Times article “From Annie Leibovitz: Life and Death, Examined”<\/a> explores Sontag and Leibovitz’s mother, Marilyn, as two particularly strong parts of Leibovitz’s work. From a humanistic perspective, choosing to emphasize one’s mother and lover makes sense in a collection of photography, but Leibovitz’s ability to take such photographs so that the images of her family members stand out more to a reader than a photograph of Leonardo DiCaprio with a swan around his neck is incredible. Article “Annie Leibovitz,”<\/a> also in The New York Times, describes how “family members become celebrities, but the celebrities seem emotionally empty after the charged images of the people Leibovitz loves.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it will be impossible to find celebrities of Leibovitz’s caliber to photograph, this merging of the public and personal life is central to Leibovitz’s style as a photographer. With recent advent in the age of social medias, so many people share everything about themselves online, in full view of anyone reading. Looking at A Photographer’s Life<\/em> teaches viewers that the entirety of one’s life must be expressed through every part, the intimate parts, the working parts, and the self-portraits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>

Methodology<\/h2>\n
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The photographs in Leibovitz\u2019s photo book are either relatively candid shots of her closest family members or professionally taken photographs of celebrities. The latter images appear very posed, while the familial shots seem to be casual moments in which Leibovitz just happened to pull out her camera. Except for a few shots of nature or graveyards (holding Leibovitz\u2019s family), the focus of her camera is always on her human subjects. With the majority of her images in black-and-white, especially those of her relatives, Leibovitz utilizes the contrasts between the multiple shades of gray between true black and pure white. Combined with her focus on the people in her photographs, these contrasts help to highlight her subjects\u2019 faces and attitudes towards Leibovitz.\u00a0<\/span>She gives advice on her photography techniques here<\/a>, explaining how she mostly uses natural light, as well as recommends younger photographers to start off taking pictures of those closest to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Woman
“Susan at the house on Hedges Lane, Wainscott, Long Island, 1988”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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In order to best imitate Leibovitz\u2019s style, I took as many photographs of my family members as possible over the Thanksgiving break at my house. This way, they felt comfortable in their natural habitat, with someone known to them taking their photographs. I aimed to shoot both posed and candid shots of my parents and sisters in black and white with a camera borrowed from the university. By taking these photographs over the holiday weekend, I recorded a more significant family event than if I photographed my close friends in Ann Arbor. Plus, my mother’s birthday occurred two days after Thanksgiving, so I was able to capture that moment as well. Just as Leibovitz records the births of her daughters and the deaths of Susan Sontag and her father, incredibly important events in her life, Thanksgiving 2022 <\/span>was as close as possible to a major event for me during this semester. I also took a few photographs of natural settings at my home in Massachusetts in order to mimic the variety of Leibovitz\u2019s images. Unfortunately, I had no access to celebrities, otherwise I would’ve tried to take a few portraits of famous people. I reached out to a professor whose lecture I attended to see if she would be interested in my taking of her photo after she spoke, but it was unfortunately to no avail. Still, with the contrast between photographs of people I love and of natural beauty, I hoped to emphasize Leibovitz\u2019s ability to contrast her personal life with her professional photographs. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>

Photo Analysis<\/h2>\n
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Through taking my own photographs, my greatest realization was how often Leibovitz must have her camera on her. This is something which might be obvious to most people familiar with photography, but I did not expect how essential it would be for me to constantly have a camera on me throughout the Thanksgiving break. Most of my shots were taken during times in which my family members were sitting on the sofa, at the table, or walking around. I didn\u2019t stage anything, although sometimes someone would look at me because they saw the camera or heard the click of the shutter. Based on the candid artfulness of Leibovitz\u2019s shots of her family, I imagine she must have taken hundreds of photographs before landing upon the perfect photos to share in the photobook. If I thought selecting the photographs to publish to this sight was difficult, Leibovitz must have encountered a lengthy process of selection before completing her collection.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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