Annie Leibovitz, Celebrity Photographer

Annie (Anna-Lou) Leibovitz was born on October 2, 1949 in Westbury, Connecticut to Sam and Marilyn Leibovitz.

In 1967, Annie Leibovitz enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute to study painting. She became interested in photography about the time of her Sophomore year, and she changed her course of study. In 1970, fresh out of college, she got a job with the new start-up magazine Rolling Stone. From 1973 to 1983, she held the position of Chief Photographer. At Rolling Stone she developed the style that she is known for, which has come to include unusual poses, elaborately staged settings, and plenty of bright primary colors. She photographed rock and roll celebrities such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith. During her stint at Rolling Stone she shot 142 cover shots.

In 1983, Annie Leibovitz moved to Vanity Fair magazine, which gave her access to a wider range of celebrity subjects. That same year, she published her first book, Annie Leibovitz: Photographs, which was a companion book to a show of 60 of her prints, which toured Europe and the US. It was at Vanity Fair that she photographed Whoopi Goldberg naked in a bathtub of milk, and Demi Moore naked and pregnant.