![Annie Leibovitz [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KST8SDMAL._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
This DVD presents a look at Annie Leibovitz's career, dividing time between her stint at Rolling Stone and later at Vanity Fair. We also get to see glimpses of her early family life, meet her parents and few relatives, and see early influences. An aspiring artist, Annie Leibovitz quickly becomes taken with the immediacy of results in the field of photography. This leads her to apply for a job at the still vibrant Rolling Stone magazine, and being quickly hired.
Various contemporaries such as Jan Wenner, Hunter Thompson and Mick Jagger provide commentary about Annie's time at RS. Jan Wenner speaks of a sometimes tempestous relationship, exacerbated when Leibovitz takes off with the Rolling Stones as the official tour photographer. We get to see a lot of the early work, and what a treat the photos are. If you were a reader of RS at the time you'll remember (however hazily) a lot of these. For myself, growing up in a small town, these defined the 'look' of rock & roll.
Ms. Leibovitz's work at Vanity Fair makes up the latter half of the DVD. Introduced by a somewhat condescending Vanity Fair editor as a chance to do more than photograph 'burnt out rock stars' the Vanity Fair years don't get off to promising start. However the story quickly recovers once the focus is back on the photographs. The Demi Moore photo, naked and pregnant, is given a little more attention than necessary, but that's to be expected given the enormous publicity it generated at the time. Leibovitz's work at Vanity Fair is first rate, but can't really compete with the excitement contained in the photo's from the RS years. To her credit Leibovitz is modest about her job at Vanity Fair, expressing her pleasure for being able work with leading contemporary figures. We get to see the work behind the art during this part of the DVD.
During a glimpse at her childhood Annie comments on the influence of a snapshot, taken by a stranger, of some of Annie's family members. We see a photograph of the family lined up side by side, by height. Annie comments on the perfect framing, the fact none of the image is cut off. You get a full picture, vertically and horizontally, you get to see all of the people in a simple pose. That pretty much sums up, both stylistcally and metaphorically, the attraction of Annie Leibovitz's work. You see the person in the photograph.
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