STRONG BEAUTIFUL WOMEN: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

STRONG WOMEN -- ANNIE LEIBOVITZ

Strength is beauty. Beauty is strength. It’s a perspective that comes through most Annie Leibovitz portraits. One of the most influential photographers of our time, Leibovitz has photographed some of the most famous people in the world -- and while many are known for their physical beauty, it is their inner strengths, their tough cores, their zealous drives, their stamina, their spirit, and their great accomplishment that carries through the images and elevates them to iconic status.

Perhaps more than any other photographer, Leibovitz has focused on strong and inspiring women. The portraits have power. They are more about who the women are and what they do than they are about how they look.

Inspired by the work of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier-Bresson, Leibovitz became the first woman to hold an exhibition at Washington's National Portrait Gallery (1991) -- it featured more than 200 of her most important photos. The Photographs: Annie Leibovitz, 1970-1990 book accompanied the show.

Leibovitz has been shooting photos of important women for 45 years. We take a look at her legacy right up through her most recent book, “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016.”

ILeibovitz, developed her trademark use of bold colors and poses while at Rolling Stone Magazine, where she created a distinctive look for the publication as chief photographer. Later, she brought her talents to Vanity Fair and Vogue.

Early on, she developed a strong voice and a unique style, redefining contemporary portraiture.

Some of her most famous images include the photo of Yoko Ono with a naked John Lennon, taken just a few hours before he was shot to death. Other iconic portraits include the pregnant naked Demi Moore, and there are many dozens more.

The focus on strong women began in 1999 with “Women,” a book collaboration with her partner longtime Susan Sontag. The book featured more than 70 portraits of female public figures, as well as a diverse range of women, including a female rap artist, an astronaut, two Supreme Court justices, farmers, coal miners, showgirls, rodeo riders, socialites, reporters, dancers, a maid, a general, a surgeon, the First Lady of the United States, the Secretary of State, a senator, rock stars, prostitutes, teachers, singers, athletes, poets, writers, painters, musicians, theater directors, political activists, performance artists, and businesswomen.

"Each of these pictures must stand on its own," Susan Sontag writes her accompanying essay, "But the ensemble says, So this what women are now -- as different, as varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this."

Sontag died in 2004. Thirteen years later, Leibovitz continued the effort with “WOMEN: New Portraits,” collaborating with a new mentor, longtime friend Gloria Steinem. Commissioned by UBS, this series celebrates women of outstanding achievement —from Misty Copeland, the first African American prima ballerina in the history of the American Ballet Theater, to Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, to Andréa Medina Rosas, a human rights lawyer working with women on the United States-Mexico border, to Lena Dunham, among others.

Later, Leibowitz captured images of Adele at her piano, television producer Shonda Rhimes on set, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai in a classroom, primatologist Jane Goodall,  senator Elizabeth Warren, and Caitlyn Jenner.

Leibowitz departed from more than 50 years of tradition in her version of the Pirelli Calendar, in 2016.

The Pirelli Calendar, has always featured nude or semi-nude photos of some of the most beautiful women in the world, including Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Penelope Cruz, Sienna Miller and Julianne Moore, taken by some of the top photographers in the world, such as Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Mario Testino, and Patrick Demarchelier.

The Leibovitz Pirelli Calendar shifted the focus from artful nudes to portraits of women of various sizes, ages and ethnicities, each chosen for her “outstanding cultural, professional, social, sporting and artistic accomplishment”.

Given free rein to cast the calendar, she replaced the usual models with a diverse mix of influential women, each one having made her mark in her selected field, be that philanthropy, art, entertainment, sport, or business.

Shot in Leibovitz’s New York studio, each woman is captured in a classic black-and-white portrait. The series features portraits of tennis legend Serena Williams,  artist and activist Yoko Ono, musician Patti Smith, comedienne Amy Schumer, model and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova, chairperson of Lucasfilm and Hollywood producer Kathleen Kennedy, art collector, philanthropist and President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art Agnes Gund (photographed with her granddaughter Sadie Rain Hope-Gund), cultural commentator and writer Fran Lebowitz, business leader and president of the $10 billion money management company Ariel Investments Mellody Hobson, film director Ava DuVernay, blogger and actress Tavi Gevinson, Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, and actress and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Yao Chen.

In her most recent book, “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” you’ll find 150 color and black-and-white portraits that include a broad range of strong influential women, from actors, to artists, musicians, politicians and athletes. The book includes Iconic portraits as well as never-before-published photographs.

They also include  strong women who you may not know, including Denise Manong, a woman living with H.I.V. in a South African town, and human rights lawyer Andréa Medina Rosas, a crusader against sexual violence against women.

Rihanna looks as red-hot as she really in an hot pink Havana Havana setting. Lupita Nyong’o is riveting. Venus and Serena Williams are incredible together, while a very pregnant Serena exudes a totally different aspect of strong feminine beauty.

Leibovitz’s portrait of Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg was one of the first taken since the untimely death of her husband died.

A few of the women memorialized by Leibovitz have since fallen from grace. Myanmar’s state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi, once a global emblem of democracy and human rights, is now tarnished by her troubling stance on ethnic cleansing in her country.

Leibovitz was planning to end the book with a portrait of President Hillary Clinton at the White House, but alas, that opportunity never came to be.

"Whether she's photographing the famous and powerful - or simply the woman next door - Annie always captures something unexpected and deeply personal."—Oprah Winfrey

"Annie Leibovitz is one of the most aesthetically gifted photographers alive."—Guardian

Leibovitz photographed former US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power in her official residence in the early light of morning, with her young son sitting on her lap clutching his teddy bear as she checks messages on her phone.

Read more about Beautiful Strength in Beautiful Places of Strength and 10 Most Beautiful Gyms.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Do you have amazing photos? Enter them in this week’s BN Photo Contest. We run new creative contest every week!

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Natalia Vodianova, Paris.  From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
2. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Patti Smith, Electric Lady Studios, New York City.  Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz.
3. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Demi Moore. Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz.
4. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Susan Sontag. Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz.
5. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Self Portrait. Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz.
6. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Misty Copeland. “WOMEN: New Portraits” series. Courtesy of UBS.
7. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Venus and Serena Williams. From “WOMEN: New Portraits” series. Courtesy of UBS.
8. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Natalia Vodianova. 2016 Pirelli Calendar, by Annie Leibovitz.
9. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Ava Duvernay. 2016 Pirelli Calendar, by Annie Leibovitz.
10. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Serena Williams. 2016 Pirelli Calendar, by Annie Leibovitz.
11. Image: Book cover. “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
12. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Rachel Feinstein and her daughter, Flora Currin, New York City.  From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
13. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Rihanna, in Havana.  From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
14. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Sheryl Sandberg in the Facebook offices, Menlo Park, California.  From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
15. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Aung San Suu Kyi. “WOMEN: New Portraits” series. Courtesy of UBS.
16. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Meryl Streep. From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
17. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Samantha Power. From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
18. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Angelina Jolie. From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
19. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Andrea Medina Rosas, women’s rights lawyer, Chimalhuacán, Mexico. From “Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,” by Annie Leibovitz. Courtesy of Phaidon Press.
20. Image: by Annie Leibovitz. Louise Bourgeois. Courtesy of Annie Leibovitz.