Blog 1

When I think of photography and what I am going to shoot next, I think about the photographers who have inspired me to shoot some of my favorite things. My favorite thing to shoot are people portraits. Something that visually pleases me is beautiful portraits, but not just any normal portraits, although those can be beautifully taken too, but portraits that are unusual or non-normal. One of my favorite portrait photographers is Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949 in Connecticut as she was one of six. Leibovitz landed her first job with a popular marketing called Rolling Stone in 1970. Not too long after this she moved her work to one of the most popular entertainment marketing brands called Vanity Fair. As she worked with Vanity Fair she became pretty popular for her photos, this made her be able to capture beautiful portraits of highly known people like celebrities', presidents, and popular icons. Leibovitz is known for her bold colors and wild and unique poses while capturing portraits. One of my favorite of hers is the portrait of Michael Jackson.

This photo is one of my favorite portraits. I love how this picture is so strong without the subject having to engage with the viewer. The position of Michael's hands on his arms and his glance down to the ground gives a sense of stability and shyness. This is funny because when I think of this man, I think of someone who is extremely bold with a big personality, but she was able to capture an image that was opposite of that and I adore that. 

One of my other favorites of Leibovitz's is the photo of Whoopi Goldberg. In this portrait we can see her wild pose in a bathtub completely nude, but covered in milk. Most of Leibovitz's work is extremely controversial, but that is what I find so interesting and visually pleasing. The portraits she capture are interesting and fun to look at. They are all controversial as we try to understand why that shot was taken. So, when I think of where to get my inspiration from, I think of famous photographers like Annie Leibovitz to give me ideas for what to do next. 

By. Bronwen Lewis