Annie Leibovitz is one of this generation’s most prolific and influential photographers. If you don’t recognize the name, I bet you’ll recognize her work. Remember when a pregnant Demi Moore posed nude for the cover of Vanity Fair? Annie Leibovitz was the woman behind the camera. And that iconic shot of a naked John Lennon curled around Yoko Ono on the cover of Rolling Stone? Leibovitz, again. Now, she’s stooped to shooting the Candie’s for Kohl’s campaign featuring Britney Spears in order to pay off her many debts.
It’s sad to see such a great photographer fall so far, but I don’t blame her for taking the hush-hush gig (which has obviously now been outed all over the Web), which took place last week on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. She was able to settle a lawsuit with Art Capital Group only by borrowing $6 million more from the lender, on top of the $24 million she already had. In the hole $30 million, it was apparently time for Leibovitz to get back to work. Although, she never really stopped working. Back in September, Leibovitz shot the official first family photo in the Green Room of the White House. And she’s been photographing throughout the messy ordeal. Only now, in the case of the Kohl’s ad, the job lacks the esteem she has earned over the span of her nearly 40-year career.
I remember rushing to see Leibovitz at a book signing in Washington, D.C., in 2006. The place was packed, and although I only got a glimpse of the photographer through a little gap between heads and shoulders, I was so honored to have seen her in person. Hopefully she pulls it together, does the work she needs to do to get back in the black, and returns to doing the kinds of portraits she is known for.
