Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens captures and explores the complexities of becoming a professional photographer.  On one hand, a photographer is expected to observe and blend into environments.  On the other, however, photographers are still humans who are expected to life fulfilling lives on an interpersonal level.  Annie Leibovitz is a clear example of a photographer who has mastered this sensitive balance.
In an intimate testimonial in the movie, Leibovitz explained where her love for travel and photography came from.  She came from a military family who was constantly driving and moving between Air Force Bases.  As her and her siblings looked out at the world through the car window, their perspective was always framed.  "We lived our world in a ready made picture frame, the car window..."  Leibovitz didn't know it yet, but the unconsciousness of having her world framed may have caused her to live with such a technical and artistic eye.
As a wildly successful artist, Annie was described as almost translucent.  Many of her subjects testified that they almost forgot that she was in the room.  Although Visual Literacy teaches much about setting up a shot and conveying images successfully, the material fails to address a crucial step that Leibovitz masters: establishing a relationship with the subject.  She infiltrates an unknown setting by making friends and learning more about a life in front of the lens.  This helps tell her what to shoot while also making the subjects more comfortable.
Leibovitz's early shooting styles looked haphazard, but it was clear that the moment she got an assignment, she was setting up a shot.  This supports the emphasis on preparation and forethought that course lectures and Photo Idea Index place on photo shoots.  Whether it was in Rolling Stone and using subtle lighting techniques on her portable 35 mm, or it was going through worksheets to perfect a high-profile Vanity Fair cover, preparation was always required.
As she began to make a name for herself in the journalistic world, Annie was challenged to get the photo that nobody else would.  An example of this in the movie was when she was sent to cover Nixon's resignation after Watergate.  There were hundreds of photographers there to capture his final walk from the White House to the helicopter, but only she thought to shoot the guards rolling up the carpet, and the crowd walking home.  This example teaches a lesson to all aspiring photographers.  It didn't matter that she was there, it mattered what she shot.  She was required to think creatively and see the environment in a way that nobody else did.  The ability to be unique in this way makes a photographer employable and indispensable, two goals that are clear within the work of this Visual Literacy class.