Annie Leibovitz

This is a link to my Famous Photographers project about Annie Leibovitz.

Hobbies, Carolyn

Reflections

The irritating yet captivating snapping of the shutter

The hypnotizing flash of white light

The mysterious spiral of the lens.

The camera beckons me towards it,

My fingers reach out to grasp its smooth sides.

It fits perfectly in my hands,

And I can't help,

But to begin the endless addiction of photography.

Artist Tools

The paints swirl against each other in the pallet.

The brush swipes gently across them,

Collecting small beads of color.

As the paints begin to dry out

A few drops of water splash onto their surfaces,

Saving them from an untimely fate.

Numbers

The keys, to anyone else, are a jumble of numbers and letters.

But not to me.

To me they are more than that.

They are a language.

A language that every speaks.

One and two become "Hello, how are you?"

Four and five become "Nice to see you, I'm doing fine."

Unfortunately, only a select few can understand these hidden messages.

To others,

The keys are simply numbers.

Food, Carolyn

The gooey dough rises slowly,
Heaving with each gust of hot oven air.
The edges turn crispy and flakey,
Like leaves on autumn trees.
I watch with anticipation,
The savory treat,
Soon to be lost forever from this world.

Creative Portraits

The circumstance in which I created this photograph was kind of odd. Andrea and I were out in the hall and she happened to have both the hat and glasses with her at that time, and when she put them on, of course it looked funny, but then when she made the serious face directly at the camera, I knew that it was a great portrait. It has both a funny and serious aspect in it, and it creates an almost ironic image.

Before I took this picture, I was trying to figure out who and what I should photograph, then suddenly I saw my brothers portrait from his art class and I thought, man, that would make a great photo! I decided to have my brother next to the painting making the same face. I thought it made the image more interesting and cool. I also thought it was funny to see how my brother had painted himself a year or two earlier next to himself later. The comparison was very cool!

Selfie

This is the selfie that I took with Andrea. It's hard to see, but there is snow in the background, which was supposed to be funny, because we were wearing sunglasses. It ironic that we chose the glasses, which are for warm sunny weather, even though it's still wintery out. I like this picture because of its humor!

Portrait Techniques

One of the portrait techniques that I really like is "moving your subject out of their comfort zone". I really like the effect that it has on the image. It captures a moment in time where you can tell that there is no going back now, and I find that really cool.

 I also really like "shoot candidly". It makes great pictures, because you see the people how they really are, not some fake person that they want to be. I think that candid photos are great, and they show true emotions.

Another technique that I like is "introduce a prop". I always love props. You can only do so many different things in a photo, but props create so many more options. They add something to the image that you can't get on your own.

The last technique that I like is "take unfocused shots". I think that these photos are really cool. You're never quite sure who the model is or what they are doing. I like how the photo becomes so mysterious and unnerving.

Famous Portraits

Dovima with the Elephants (1955)

I chose this photograph by Richard Avedon because I really like the way he incorporated such a fancy dress with animals. I think that his style is mainly putting things together that don't normally harmonize with each other. The way that he had elephants in this photo along with an outfit that would normally be something one would wear to a fancy event shows this.

New York NY (1967)

I chose this photograph by Arnold Newman because it has such bright and happy colors, yet the man has a rather blank expression on his face. I thought that having two opposite emotions was really interesting. I think that Newman's style is usually sad or bored facial expressions with backgrounds that have some sort of movement or emotion. I like the way that they complement each other.

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow (no date)

I chose this portrait of Johnny Depp by Annie Leibovitz because of two reasons. One, I like how it is obviously posed and not real, and two, I like Johnny Depp! I like how Leibovitz has Depp just standing their, almost like he doesn't care. I think it's really cool! I think that Leibovitz's style is just be as crazy as you can be. Her portraits are definitely not average, and I think that's what makes them so interesting. Most people expect a normal portrait, plain and boring, but Leibovitz's portraits have the model in bizarre scenarios and costumes. I really like her style!