Annie Leibovitz - American Masters Jan 3

[MJS]

Arrrrghhhh!! I was in North Carolina on a mountain in a cabin with only one faint off air channel and it wasn't PBS. I'll pay for a copy of the tape if anyone has it. She is one of my favorites.

[Asylum Steve]

I'll pay for a copy of the tape if anyone has it...

Why Michael, that would be illegal... :shocked: :nonod:

I'm sure the show will be available on DVD...

[photophorous]

I recorded the show and watched it last night. I enjoyed it very much. I have never been a big fan of hers, but all I had ever seen before was her more recent work with Vogue. That stuff is great, but just doesn't do much for me. After seeing her earlier work, I'm very impressed with her. Did I hear wrong when she said that first portrait of John Lennon (the first one that made the cover of Rolling Stone) was actually taken by accident when she was trying to get a meter reading? If so, that's just crazy. I want to be a photojournalist now.

Paul

[walterick]

Yeah Paul, I heard the same thing. Usually when I push the shutter by accident the result isn't fit to be placed on the cover of a magazine

[Asylum Steve]

Usually when I push the shutter by accident the result isn't fit to be placed on the cover of a magazine

Funny you guys should mention this. Now, I'm no Annie Leibovitz, and my subject was no John Lennon, but I had a weird experience shooting a recent magazine story on a female kicker on a boys high school football team.

They wanted a feature shot of her after a practice on the football field. I was only given about 10 minutes or so, so I set up my camera and light and did my metering. I took the girl and just quickly stuck her in front of the camera to take a test shot to check the light. The guys were mulling around in the background.

Well, the actual shoot went poorly. She was very uncomfortable being photographed and her teammates were giving her crap and trying to make her laugh the whole time. The coach kept looking at his watch and telling me to hurry.

I tried not to freak, and just kept shooting. And praying...

The results were pretty much what I had feared. Something (or someone) wrong with just about every frame. Closed eyes. Laughing or smiling at the wrong time. Strange looks. The usual...

There was, however, one shot that I was completely satisfied with. And in case you haven't guessed it by now, it was the very first test shot taken almost on a whim. The magazine liked it so much they used as the cover.

You can see the final pic on my blog entry: "2006, The year in review..."

Believe me, I thanked the photo gods that night. Sometimes it IS better to be lucky than good... :thumbsup:

[Old Timer]

Believe me, I thanked the photo gods that night. Sometimes it IS better to be lucky than good... :thumbsup:

Amen!!! How many times has that happened for me???

[photophorous]

I've had my share of lucky shots, but none good enough to grace the cover of a magazine.

Congrats on that shot, Steve. It doesn't look like luck to me.

Paul

[mtbbrian]

I've had my share of lucky shots, but non good enough to grace the cover of a magazine.

Congrats on that shot, Steve. It doesn't look like luck to me.

Paul

I don't think I'd call that particular "cover shot" of hers just another cover.
That particular photograph John Lennon and Yoko Ono, deserves "icon status", no for Leibovitz, then for John Lennon..
Brian
"Imagine"

[Asylum Steve]

I don't think I'd call that particular "cover shot" of hers just another cover.
That particular photograph John Lennon and Yoko Ono, deserves "icon status", no for Leibovitz, then for John Lennon..
Brian
"Imagine"

Brain, the shot were talking about isn't her famous pic of John and Yoko (with Lennon naked). Rather, the light meter "accident" shot was a close up of Lennon's face and was taken in 1971 (first cover at the top on this page):

http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/covers/_/year/1971

By the time she photographed the couple cover (right before Lennon's death), she had become well known and had a much greater sense of what she was doing artistically.

[mtbbrian]

Brain, the shot were talking about isn't her famous pic of John and Yoko (with Lennon naked). Rather, the light meter "accident" shot was a close up of Lennon's face and was taken in 1971 (first cover at the top on this page):

http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/covers/_/year/1971

By the time she photographed the couple cover (right before Lennon's death), she had become well known and had a much greater sense of what she was doing artistically.

Ohhh....

Regardless, the one I was talking about is an icon.
Brian
:thumbsup:
"Imagine"

[Asylum Steve]

Regardless, the one I was talking about is an icon...

Very true. In the case of that shot, fate stepped in to propel it to icon status and give it infinitely more emotional power than it would have had otherwise...

[photophorous]

Very true. In the case of that shot, fate stepped in to propel it to icon status and give it infinitely more emotional power than it would have had otherwise...

Kinda makes you wonder what kind of impact that shot would have had if fate had not stepped in.

[mtbbrian]

Kinda makes you wonder what kind of impact that shot would have had if fate had not stepped in.

No matter what, I think it would have held that status, as an icon, I mean it really captures Lennon's persona and I guess both of theirs Yoko and John too, or maybe their relationship.
All three I suppose!
That photograph was done three days before he was killed right?
Brian
"Imagine..."

[photophorous]

No matter what, I think it would have held that status, as an icon, I mean it really captures Lennon's persona and I guess both of theirs Yoko and John too, or maybe their relationship.
All three I suppose!
That photograph was done three days before he was killed right?
Brian
"Imagine..."

No, it was done hours before he was shot...I think she says 5 hours in the show.

I agree that photo would be an icon regardless, but I think people might have viewed it differently. Just a thought. I was only 3 at the time, so what do I know.

Paul

[Asylum Steve]

That photograph was done three days before he was killed right?..."

I'm trying to remember from the special, but I think the session was literally hours before Lennon was murdered...

As for the impact of the shot had he lived, I think it would have simply entered the stable of her other memorable portraits.

At the time of Lennon's death, he was back on the music charts with his final album, Double Fantasy, but it was a very mellow, warm and fuzzy Lennon (which I find very ironic considering his barrage of attacks over the years on fellow Beatle Paul McCartney's "silly love songs").

Point is, he was more of a murmur than a thunderclap, and seemed quite content to live the quiet life of a house-husband with only occasional recording and performing.

IMO, while already a legend, it was his brutal and untimely death that elevated him to a much higher mythical status. And the photo as well...

[walterick]

You all should check out the movie "The US vs John Lennon" if you're interested in he and Yoko. It was in indie theatres a few months ago.

[Asylum Steve]

Congrats on that shot, Steve. It doesn't look like luck to me...

Thanks. Truth is, you make your own "luck" much of the time by learning your craft inside and out, being well prepared, and knowing how to work quickly under pressure. It's more a question of not missing shots that appear before you...

In this case, let's just say that, based on her expression and pose in the one shot that worked compositionally, I was extremely fortunate...

BTW, there were other shots from the group that could have been used in a pinch, but none were even close to as good as the one we did use.

[darkman]

Thanks. Truth is, you make your own "luck" much of the time by learning your craft inside and out, being well prepared, and knowing how to work quickly under pressure. It's more a question of not missing shots that appear before you...
.

And sometimes it's just getting over a stigma in your own head. I recently used a "test" shot in which the subject was holding a gray card. To my chagrin, nobody cared. In fact, everyone loved the shot....