Monday, December 24, 2012

150 photos from Annie Leibovitz: The "Master Set" exhibit

This weekend, I visited the exhibit of iconic pictures and family photos by Annie Leibovitz on display at the Wexner Center for the Arts on the Ohio State University campus.  

Leibovitz’s work encompasses some of the most well-known portraits of our time, including those of musicians, actors, writers, athletes and political figures. The exhibit is a snapshot of American pop culture representing the past four decades.

Featured is Leibovitz’s "Master Set," some 150 images she selected as best representing her life’s work, including those from professional assignments and personal photos of her family. This is the first time the photos have been exhibited as a set. The exhibit fills the entire museum’s gallery space.

“The camera allowed me to go places by myself. It gave me a purpose. It gave me reason,” said Annie Leibovitz during the opening of the Wexner Center show.

There’s a photo of actress Scarlett Johansson lounging on a worn couch wearing a glittery, circus-like getup and red heels. There’s a portrait of a bare-naked John Lennon wrapped around a clothed Yoko Ono, taken just hours before he was shot dead in 1980. There’s the Vanity Fair cover photo of a pregnant and nude Demi Moore gracefully covering her breasts and cradling her belly.

All are of famous people, but captured in poses that reveal their personalities and transform them into people we know.



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