Research on Photographers

Photographer One:  Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is one of the most recognized and praised female photographers ever-- let’s rephrase that-- Annie Leibovitz is one of the most praised photographers, MALE OR FEMALE, of all time.  Annie Leibovitz is an American photographer, and she was born in 1949, and thankfully, she is still alive today.  Annie attended the San Francisco Art Institute, and graduated in the 60s.  She is best known for her exceptional portraits, but she has done all kinds of photos.  Annie has had many photos appear on the cover of the Rolling Stone Magazine.  In fact, both of the pictures I chose were from the magazine, since she worked there for much of her young career.  Annie Leibovitz’s most famous photo is the first one below.  While it is famous enough because it is a picture of John Lennon and Yoko Uno, and a magazine cover, it is also one of the last pictures ever taken of John Lennon, since he died just hours after this was taken.  Another amazing story about Annie Leibovitz is that she took photos of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II for a BBC documentary.  One time, Leibovitz told Elizabeth II to take off her “tiara,” which really offended the Queen.  She was angry that Leibovitz did not care that it was the Crown Jewels, and that she had actually told her what to do, but Leibovitz did not care, she was just doing her job.  Leibovitz is a perfect example of a great photographer, because she cared so much about the pictures she took, even if it meant bossing the Queen of England around.

Photographer Two: Andrew Bernstein

Andrew Bernstein has been the team photographer for the Los Angeles Lakers for nearly 40 years.  While he is not as famous in the photography world, he is extremely famous in the sports world, especially basketball.  He was an extremely close friend of the late Kobe Bryant, who he took the most pictures of by far.  When Kobe wrote his very popular book, “Mamba Mentality,” he used Bernstein’s pictures of him for illustration of what he was talking about.  Andrew Bernstein also said that Kobe religiously studied the pictures while he was playing, looking for ways he could improve, as well as ways he could exploit his opponents.  These pictures were a key to Kobe’s success in the NBA, since for much of the time Kobe was playing, the video quality was not very good, so he turned to the pictures.  Bernstein did an interview with ESPN after Kobe passed away, and he was clearly heartbroken, since they shared such a close friendship.  In this ESPN special, they featured many of Bernstein’s photos of Kobe, and it is shocking how many pictures are extremely popular posters or screensavers, but no one recognizes the man behind the camera: Andy Bernstein.  Bernstein estimates he has taken over four hundred thousand pictures of Bryant alone, but few of them he has actually shown to the public.  This just shows the diligence of Bernstein, he only took the best of the best of his pictures.  The two photos below are classics, one of them is Kobe in his first all star game ever, and another is of him talking to his mentor, and brother figure, Michael Jordan.