I have previously seen an exhibit of her earlier, Rolling Stone, work at Newcastle Gallery many years ago and being a long time Vanity Fair reader, was very familiar with her Hollywood photos. There is something very immediate, yet long lasting about photography and her eye draws you in. She experiments with quirky and unusual - Whoopi in a milk bath, Demi pregnant, Lemmon and Curtis in drag.
A lot of the Vanity Fair shots were exhibited, side by side with her other work. These were more personal, mostly black and white shots. They were infinitely more interesting also. They were smaller sized than the larger than life Hollywood shots, it drew you in closer to these intimate images. The following is a joyous shot of her parents.
There were also very confronting subject matter - Sarajevo and the death of Susan Sontag, her partner. These were quite beautiful, haunting and very sad. There were some images I just could not bear to look at for too long, they made me very teary, in particular the photograph of Sontag in her coffin...it was too much. Accompanying this was some words from Leibovitz, which added to the impact. I much preferred the stunning shot of Sontag at Petra - now that is an eye for detail.
I also was surprised to see a huge section of very large (wall sized) landscapes of areas in America, like the Grand Canyon, and Venice - these were minimalist and at times so grainy, you had to step right back to adjust to what you were seeing. These were a surprise, as I had no knowledge of this part of her work - it was nice to see something new.
Finally, here are some other images I loved - the contrast of what she can do, the glaring black, white and red of The White Stripes to the country black and white of the Cash family. There is no doubt Leibovitz is a star. I think the exhibit has been extended until April - so if you get a chance so and see. It is a huge exhibit with many, many shots, I highly recommend.
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