Thanks Susan for your civilized take on this – all those ‘long knives’ above are a frightening reflection of who we have become as a society.

Leibovitz is a brilliant artist of the photographic media. Her level of greatest takes dedication, not popularity. For all the critics of Leibovitz’s personality, the fact remains that she is recognized as one of the greatest photographers of her time.

I crossed paths with Leibovitz early in my career and was terrified of her. BUT, to have the privilege of watching Leibovitz set up and shoot, was a rare opportunity to learn from a master.

Of all the opinions passed on Leibovitz, the one that matters most will come decades from now and will honor her.

I saw her traveling show at a museum in DC and there were three parts to it:1) the very large, highly produced images she is known for – quite impressive in their way; 2) the personal BW photographs documenting her life, very interesting not for the quality of the captures but in the documentary sense and 3) very large (very large) pictures taken from a helicopter of a wide variety of nature scenes, usually mountains, etc. all very muted and all showing extreme blurring – as one would get from being taken in a helicopter at very long shutter speed. These seemed to be the most recent – and the most enlightening.

It seemed to be an attempt to find a new way of looking at iconic scenes – and it failed completely. It was technique for its own sake, that showed nothing new or interesting about the scenes.

I realized then how difficult it must be for an AL to come up with something new or even good all the time.

I agree – Art Capital is extremely predatory, just like a lot of the subprime mortgage lenders were/are (google “American Home” for an example). Actually, “predatory” is an overly-polite word for it. I can’t believe they’re suing to sell her property before there’s been any breach of contract. Art Capital is pure evil.

I’m betting she will come out of this alive, although not unscathed. She will find herself starting anew.

Also, I can’t see how a court would uphold an agreement “for all future work” – I thought that was called slavery (since, technically, indentured servitude is for a limited time period, so we can’t really call it that either).

She will probably lose her shirt however, to Art Capital, to Goldman Sachs, to Getty, her lawyers, or whatever party swoops in to benefit from her current predicament.

While monumental and dramatic due to its scale, is sadly very typical.

This passage sounds like any other story about a subprime loan:

‘Leibovitz has told people that she didn’t understand the ramifications of the agreement she signed. She did not show the contract to any member of her family or even her agent before she signed it, nor did she hire her own attorney to review the document. Instead she relied on an attorney whom Starr provided. “Trust me,” says her sister Paula. “She thought it was a pure loan. That New York Times article was as much news to her as it was to anybody else.”’

And this one:

‘“Ms. Leibovitz and a small army of her lawyers and financial advisers understood the terms of the deal,” insists Montieth Illingworth, a spokesman for Art Capital. “It was discussed explicitly with her numerous times over several months. Ms. Leibovitz signed her name five times to different documents in the transaction. To say otherwise is not credible.”’

Is a line of pure bullshit from Art Capital. Anyone who’s taken out a mortgage (even a standard “prime” mortgage) will understand. It gets discussed for weeks and then at the closing, you sign so many documents with a tornado of paperwork going around the table, that by the end of it you aren’t sure exactly what you’ve signed. You just know that the bank lent you the money and you walked away with the keys to the house. You don’t find out exactly what you signed until afterwards, and that’s only if you go over the 100+ pages of contracts with a fine tooth comb and a law degree.

This all reminds me of way too many tragic celebrity financial stories… I’m guessing it will be an “E True Hollywood Story” in a few short years.

If you want great work you will meet artists who are not only talented but also have this very peculiar personalities. And if you are a nice guy and / or not overtalented you end up as a middle of the road photographer or assistant. If you cannot be that bastard completely in control and demanding the most bizarre contributions of your team you will at best be good photographer but never a great photographer.

You can be in control, show your vision, insist upon a great crew, have fun and still come up with kick-ass images.

You can listen to crazy stories about Orson Welles, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton but that doesnot change a thing on the quality of their work.
Great businessmen, great photographers, great athlethes, all these outperformers are NOT average people, they not only are very talented but are very ambitious, very competitive, creative, want to be in control, etc etc. These people have NOT a middle-of-the-road personality. Do you really think “normal” people are able to produce such a body of outstanding work ??

All these great assistant who worked for her and could do the job better ? Why weren’t you the ones who did those Vanity Fair covers ? Now Annie is the bitch and the other ones, including Avedon, where the nice persons.. simply not true !! DO your homework on Avedon.

If you want great work you will meet artists who are not only talented but also have this very peculiar personalities. And if you are a nice guy and / or not overtalented you end up as a middle of the road photographer or assistant. If you cannot be that bastard completely in control and demanding the most bizarre contributions of your team you will at best be good photographer but never a great photographer.

A great portrait photographer captures the essence of their subject without placing themselves in the shot. Annie adds an unnecessary part of herself and thus the viewer never sees a true and unfettered portrait.

You’re both accurate in your assessments regarding the experiences and realities of the high-level world of the “big-city” photography profession. During my NYC assisting days, I can certainly confirm James’ accountants and anecdotes of working with top-level photographers who had more contacts than technical expertise. However, it’s a mixed bag and although, I’ve never assisted Annie Leibovitz, I’ve witnessed, from start to finish, a shoot she did of Al Pacino for the cover of Vanity Fair many years ago, while one morning sitting in my favorite Greenwich Village café as she and her crew overtook the place as she barked out orders like a drill sergeant with regard to the coordination of lighting and set arrangements. In that sense, she was the real deal and was confident and in complete control.
Regardless of her current and unfortunate situation, you can’t take that away from her.

You can not take that away from her.

I’ve met her and did not like the person I saw. The artist is another thing. She is very talented. There is the persona and then the person. In Annies case, maybe she became the persona.

I wonder if the photographers who are idolized by the fan boys and are building empires will be smart enough to escape their own hubris.

It is a shame to see this happening and for her to have her life and finances discussed in public like this.

Actually she does ( or used to do) a lot of the conceptualizing and idea makign for her photos, I know she did some of this for her American Express work and she used to do a lot of that for her editorial work.

” She has art director’s and creative directors doing all that. ”

Uh – because that’s their job. That’s how it works in advertising. And I’m sure your work is much better, right? And more original?

One look at her body of work will show a consistency of approach and vision that makes it obvious she’s shooting HER concept in HER way and not someone else’s. The stories about her personality are enough to back this up. I mean, we’ve all seen the video where she ask the QUEEN to take off her tiara. Call it balls, ego, hubris, insolence, or whatever, but there are very few other photographers who would go there with the queen.

And anyone who’s done a produced commercial shoot (much less one involving celebrities, politicians, etc.) knows that it’s always a collaboration – this is why we all hire stylists, hair, makeup, producers, etc. – to add to the collaboration (under the overall direction of the photographer). There’s simply too much money on the line (especially with Annie’s productions) to have anything go wrong or to not come back with the shot.

Do you think Avedon went out all on his own and found that hairless beekeeper, arranged the bees just so while managing to interact with the guy and wrangle his 8×10 at the same time only to go home and process and print the images himself?

No of course not. He had a production staff acting as his infrastructure who cast the guy, produced the shoot, helped the guy wrangle the bees, and a production crew to help him shoot the image, but the image was 100% his concept, approach, and vision. There’s documentation to back this up – concept drawings, printer’s instructions, etc. which show the control he exercised over his images. I’m sure Annie is just as controlling in her approach (unless all the stories about her micromanagement, abuse, obsessiveness to detail, etc are all untrue).

I see nothing original in her work. Post a link to something she did that was original and awe inspiring. Something that makes me say, WOW, she is good

“Any concepts are pre approved and most of the time are given and not asked for”

And that is all it is – a concept. It is the photographer that gives that concept a life. It is the very reason that ideas cannot be copyrighted – only the expression of the idea.

“I moved to NYC to work with the best photographers in the world. What I found was that I was working with the best photo assistants in the world…”
from the eBook – ‘How to be a Photo Assistant.’

I like so many others ended up working for famous and infamous photographers that did not know lighting, did not know their cameras or equipment, and for the most part were no better than glorified art directors with industry contacts; that could not light a match much less their own sets.

Almost everyday we would be handed a tear sheet of someone else’s work and told: “make it look like this.” “light it like this.”
Or my favorite;”.. I want that hair, that make up, that lighting with that camera framing.”
I can certainly understand photographers that wish to pay homage to a photographer that they like. But being an outright copyist is another thing all together.

So when I hear people say that photographer “XYZ” has such amazing lighting I have to walk away because I know who he had working on set that day and did the lighting.
One of the last photographers I worked with years ago, called me up 1 night begging me to work on his 1st big fashion job.
“Oh, I need your help” “Please come over right now and help me produce this job, I don’t know what I’m doing.” fine he was willing to pay me. I want over and he was freaking out. I pulled out a bunch of Polaroid’s and images and said match up an image with each shot you have to do. 5 minutes later I created an equipment order and was gone. Not only did I produce that job and light it, but I also shot it. As have so many other photo assistants over the years.

You give me 1/5 of any of Annie’s budgets and access to the same resources, and I can find you 100 seasoned NYC or LA. photo assistants that can produce equal or better work than Annie with out the drama.

Photo Assistant: “F/5.6 @ 1/4
Famous photographer: “…1/4,…. that’s the little ring on the outside of the lens?”

“I have “plans” for the evening. So take the client out to dinner, get them drunk, and give me a wake up call after 10am tomorrow.”

(while driving to a location for an editorial shoot)
Photo Assistant: “…so what did you do before photography..”
Photographer: “Oh, I was a professional Frisbee player”
Photo Assistant: “So how long have you been shooting?”
Photographer: “Oh about 3 months”

Even sadder is that these are not isolated incidents. and every photo assistant has stories like this.

…you know, maybe its time to write that book.

No, don’t hate photographers or photography, just detest mediocrity.