Annie Leibovitz came to my city last weekend. It’s not everyday that a famous photographer comes to Kansas City, so I went.
Now I won’t even lie and say she is my favorite, or was my inspiration or anything like that. Quite honestly, aside from the Demi Moore maternity on the Vanity Fair cover, I never gave the woman much thought. But, as I mentioned previously, not much happens here in Cowtown, so I slapped on some lipstick and went downtown.
The auditorium was packed, over 1100 attendees. I chuckled to myself and noted that I was surprised any of us have any clients, considering probably every single person in that hall is a photographer of some sort. I saw some familiar faces, and did some people-watching.
The announcer went over the “rules”: no picture-taking of Annie while she is speaking, don’t interrupt her, she will sign books after, but wont sign anything but her name, you can snap a pic while she is signing, but move along, that kind of thing. I admit, I was saying to myself “yep, typical “celebrity” ego”.
Then Anne came onstage. Dressed for comfort, not style, she has an easy-going manner and a nervous smile. She seemed humbled at the standing ovation, and I was sheepish at my earlier thought.
She sat on the floor of the stage and read the intro to her new book, adding some commentary along the way. When she began to speak of her long-time partner, Susan Sontag, who has recently passed away from cancer, she began to cry openly. We all waited silently as her grief overcame her. She made no move to hide her tears, rather she stated to all of us that when you have lost someone, you just never know when the pain will overcome you. I know that, too.
After her presentation, she took Q&A from the audience. She laughed, she shared and she said things in passing that are burned into my brain. Things *I* have only recently let myself believe are OK. Things that other photographers have told me are “wrong”, so I had buried my belief in them. But, here, a famous, successful, talented artist, telling me “ITS OK”!
Its ok that I believe that content is MORE important than form.
In Annie’s new book, she has a portrait of Nelson Mandela. Technical photographers will note that the eyes have no catch lights (considered a MAJOR mistake). Still, it’s a wonderful portrait, and the more I stare at it, the more I believe that if the light were in his eyes, the portrait would NOT have the same impact.
It’s OK to not want to do it all.
Annie said her best advice is to stay close to home and photograph what you know. I myself only photograph certain specialties and understand that it is OK to not want to do anything else. Just b/c someone would pay me to photograph their 80th birthday party, doesn’t mean I have to do that.
It’s OK to overshoot.
Annie said that a photographer should never think about how many rolls of film it will take to get the shot, just shoot until you have it. I have been chastised on occasion for shooting so many frames, but it ISNT that I am not skilled, I just want another frame, and that’s OK.
After the Q&A was over, Annie began to sign her book. I was #1070, and it was late. I left when they were on about 300 or so. Annie was spending about 2 minutes per person, and posing for pictures with anyone who asked.
I wanted that autograph, but after sitting in the room with her for a couple of hours, knowing that she (like me) is the mommy of young kids….I knew what she would say to me if she could: go home and kiss your kids goodnight. You never know how short life is.
~S.
