Wonderland

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Leibovitz’s new book, Wonderland, would suggest otherwise. A smaller, slimmer volume than her other works (“I really did want something you could rest on your lap,” she says wryly), it is a celebration of her fashion photography A] gorgeous anthology of fashion images … Leibovitz is nothing less than America’s greatest living photographic portraitist … she has changed fashion photography forever.” – Anna Wintour Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children in a Jewish family. Her mother was a modern dance instructor, while her father was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force. The family moved frequently with her father's duty assignments, and she took her first pictures when he was stationed in the Philippines. Leibovitz started her career as a photojournalist at Rolling Stone in 1971, when the magazine was in its infancy. She was just 21 when her portrait of John Lennon made the cover. Her photographs helped shape the magazine and give it the unvarnished visual gumption it has become known for. In her 12 years at the magazine, she went on tour with the Rolling Stones, shot the final image of the Nixon presidency as the disgraced politician boarded a helicopter from the White House, and captured the iconic, much-copied image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Now when we think of the little girl who grows, shrinks, and navigates all manner of odd encounters, we tend to imagine her in a blue dress with an Alice band. Much like Dorothy’s gingham and ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz (1939) or Little Red Riding Hood’s, well, red hood, it’s an immediately identifiable outfit. However, the first authorised colour version of the book featured her in yellow.

Even after more than 50 years, and photoshoots with presidents, first ladies, the Dalai Lama and the Queen, Leibovitz admits to being nervous every time she takes aim. “Oh sure! Of course,” she says. “I’m always nervous.” But, she adds, “Isn’t that the fun of it? You admire and respect people, and when you work with them, that is daunting.” Her work is often funny, too. “My approach to fashion has always been lighthearted,” she says. She revels in its inherent whimsy. Take for example, her shoot featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, the star of “Sex and the City”, in front a mountainous pile of pillows. Or her series depicting Natalia Vodianova, a Russian model, crammed into a tiny house as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in her wonderland. Vogue and Vanity Fair would like to extend a special thanks to Hauser & Wirth, Phaidon, Hyundai, TriNet, and The Macallan for supporting our event. A] gorgeous anthology of fashion images … Leibovitz is nothing less than America’s greatest living photographic portraitist … she has changed fashion photography forever.”– Anna Wintour Call to mind a seminal magazine photograph from the past 50 years and there’s a good chance Annie Leibovitz took it.

In high school, she became interested in various artistic endeavours, and began to write and play music. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute. She became interested in photography after taking pictures when she lived in the Philippines, where her Air Force father was stationed during the Vietnam War. For several years, she continued to develop her photography skills while she worked various jobs, including a stint on a kibbutz Amir in Israel for several months in 1969. In the spirit of collaboration, Leibovitz spoke to the group (just after Vanity Fair’s Radhika Jones and Phaidon CEO Keith Fox delivered heartwarming words of appreciation for the photographer) about the gratitude she felt toward Wintour. Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz's surprising account of her encounters with fashion over five decades Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz’s surprising account of her encounters with fashion over five decades. This luxury edition is presented in a beautiful and elegant slipcase.

In 1975, Leibovitz served as a concert-tour photographer for The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas.

The famous blue dress

Whether she's photographing the famous and powerful - or simply the woman next door - Annie always captures something unexpected and deeply personal."– Oprah Winfrey Over the last 50 years, Annie Leibovitz’ eye has helped direct, guide and capture the fashion industry’s greatest talents; her hallmarks – theatrical staging, enchanting storytelling and a surrealist bent – working in creative dialogue with the designs they portray. In the late 1970s, editor Clay Felker approached her to shoot the model Margaux Hemingway for New West, a Californian spin-off of New York Magazine. It was her first brush with fashion and, says Leibovitz, a revelation. Grace is very tough,” laughs Leibovitz. “Every time I would work with her, it’s like starting from scratch. Grace likes to remind me that I don’t do a lot on set.”

This new title explores that side of her practice for the first time, by reproducing more than 350 photographs, featuring a wide array of subjects, including Cate Blanchett, Serena Williams and Nicole Kidman; as well as the Queen of England and a good few First Ladies (not to mention Nancy Pelosi). A compendium of her greatest hits ... Her pictures are big, colorful, beautifully composed, egregiously luxuriant, loaded with detail, and nearly always contain some kind of implied narrative.' – The New York Times Book Review Much of the 72-year-old artist’s output blurs the line between photojournalism, which strives to document a fleeting moment to preserve reality, and editorial photography, which depicts its subjects in a stylised way to promote products, tell a story or attract attention. As a student, Ms Leibovitz found the friction between documentary photography and fashion shoots compelling. “The former was kept higher up while the other was considered commercial.” What makes a great photograph is hard to define, she says, and sometimes it takes years for her to be able to look at a photograph and assess it objectively. “The photos, and my perception of them, do change over time,” she says. “You need distance from the images. Sometimes photographs take on different meanings, or become more or less relevant over time.” Glamour is worth documenting, she believes. Her subjects—whether they be politicians (such as Hillary Clinton), pop-stars (like Lady Gaga), or activists (including Malala Yousafzai)—are captured in an unnervingly realistic way. At the same time, they radiate under the dramatic light she casts over them, enhanced by a glow reminiscent of the chiaroscuro technique used by Renaissance painters.Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz’s surprising account of her encounters with fashion over five decades Though you’d think it wasn’t so, this is the photographer’s first-ever collection of fashion images; she wanted to save them all for something special, as she states in the book. Annie Leibovitz began her career at Rolling Stone, shooting the world’s best loved musicians, and is now, decades later, one of America’s most highly regarded photographers, celebrated across the world, from The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, to Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles, to Luma Arles in southern France. Whether she's photographing the famous and powerful – or simply the woman next door – Annie always captures something unexpected and deeply personal.' – Oprah Winfrey