Maybe it's me. I mean, no disrespect intended here, but I just don't get it when it comes to her work. My wife bought me a big book of Annie's for Christmas one year. It bored me. Then there is the Barnes and Noble that I visit every week searching for a good book on photography. There is usually not much there, but this week, what do I find, another book by Liebowitz. Maybe she owns the book store? I had to get it out.
You're right -- it's you.Originally Posted by John Conway
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Yup
I'm with John. She's certainly more famous than many better photographers. That's why you see her books marketed for people who read Vanity Fair, but have perhaps never encountered one of the best Yousuf Karsh portraits. Save your money for a book by Gandolfi. Hint, hint, Emil!
Well she has a long history of photography that started Rolling Stone mag. I just watched her story on the Ovation channel.... She seemed to have a entitlement attitude .. strange coming from a millionaire photographer .. (just my personal opinion.) She had an affair with Susan Sontag whom i have never heard of before i saw her bio entertainment show. She was in the right place at the right time i guess with just enough talent ... She does however make portraits that are interesting.... and are staged to the point of being a major production both in money and time.... no fault there. Says she got her style from Richard Avedon ... mmm I also hear she is not good at business, like most successful photographers... bankrupt owes millions ... i wonder if i could buy some of mamiya stuff...
And your wife said to you, "Here, honey, look at what she did! You have a camera, do you think you could make up some cards for us?" And you've never been the same since. The sets. The over production. The cliché. Over and over again! She's following in that devil's footsteps, that William Mortensen. Oh, the travesty!
I wonder how she talks so many people into doing that stuff. I mean, really, Sting looked like he was thinking to himself, "I could have been watching cartoons instead of standing out in the desert, caked with mud."
"It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." - Walker Evans
someone told me that she used to throw cameras at assistants. Yikes. They also said she's "always right", and if you get in her way, she'll cut your balls off, and you'll never get hired again.
But one thing that she DOES do correctly(IMO) is that she supposedly does a HUGE amount of background research on the people she's going to photograph. Not very many people actually study their subjects in uber detail. Dan Winters I believe also does something similar.
She spent a shitload of dough taking care of Susan Sontag's medical bills before/after she died. Those pile up quickly, especially if you're using in-home care...
So it might not have just been bad business practice, but I wouldn't be the least surprised if she has no idea on how to write checks to assistants(of which I've heard that many have never been paid, some small class-action suits supposedly have been taken out against her, supposedly...
I know I'd never want to work for her. But I'd venture to guess most people who want to work for her are more about their own ego's and being able to say "I assisted Annie, and LIVED!!!" or some BS like that... IDK, she's just a photographer to me. In the right place at the right time, surrounded by the right people.
-Dan
I guess it's me, too. Having been suckered into Pilgrimage by the cover photo, I felt entirely cheated by what was between the covers. She had a chance to wow me with the Yosemite Valley photo, but printed it so small as to be pointless. Nice portraits for sure, but to be blunt it strikes me as a "I'm from NYC, so I'm a statement." Well, I'm from Nebraska, and I'm not a statement, but at least I didn't rip you off for $40.
I very vaguely remember that her financial problems started when she borrowed millions from one of those loan outfits that specialize in loaning money to artists and taking art work as security. She bought three NYC townhouses, then couldn't make the payments and couldn't repay the loan outfits. Or something like that, I'm sure more detail and much more accuracy could be found by googling.
Brian Ellis
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
She has or had this beautiful stone barn Upstate that was shown in one of the TV shows about her.
I really like her documentary 35mm Rolling Stone work from the 70s, that is very pure and simple and strong, especially covering the Stones and even Nixon's resignation.
I don't care for her celebrity work with the high production values but somebody has the be the Cecil Beaton-Richard Avedon of every generation and being female and connected certainly helps. Still I am envious, like the shoot for the Sophia Coppola movie at Versailles - you need that kind of star power to pull that off.
Still it seems like she made a pact with the Devil to sell her soul and it would make a great story someday....
As far as assistants go, I've heard she is an utter asshole and an idiot about any sort of technical or lighting concern, she just has her crew do everything and treats them like dirt, as many famous photographers, especially in fashion, are reputed to do. As long as she didn't owe them money, I bet most were glad when she went broke.
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