PhotoTalk 2020/11

Most of you are probably familiar with the name Annie Leibovitz, she is known for her portraits, more specifically, she is known for her portraits of celebrities which often tended to the intimate side. She has many notable images, from Leonardo DiCaprio and the swan, to Angeline Jolie, to Lauren Hutton’s mud covered image to the infamous John Lennon image taken on the day he was assassinated.

I am not a portrait photographer, so I’ll just mention what it is that I feel makes her images grip me as they do, when I look at her portraits, I can feel the subject looking straight into my soul, there’s an intimacy not just in the setting, but between the subject and the camera, between the subject and the photographer; I feel as though Annie was flirting with the subject’s dark side, with the forbidden, with their very soul.

Of her many many images, I’ve always been drawn to the one I share here; there is, of course, quite a story or even stories behind and surrounding these gentlemen, but I just always found that the lighting, the texture and the colour of the processing combined with the intense, serious yet mischievous looks made this an instantly memorable and liked portrait, this isn’t as flambouyant or erotic as some of her work can be, but its always been a gripping one for me.

There are various types of portraits, what Annie did, was special, she had panache. What do you think of Annie’s portraits? Let’s talk.

The original was posted to the Guyana Photographers’ Facebook Group on April 21st, 2020. To see the original comments and discussion please visit that post.