DVD Review: Annie Leibowitz: Life Through A Lens
Provocative Pro Photographer's Life Shines Through New Documentary
Nov 22, 2008
Life Through a Lens Not Just About Pretty Pictures
In this fascinating and personal documentary by Leibowitz's sister Barbara, Life Through a Lens takes the viewer through major periods in this legendary photographer's life. From her early years growing up as an army brat, to her own education as a photographer, discovering a gift in capturing the essence in any subject or location.
The documentary explores her time spent at Rolling Stone Magazine, where she produced some of their more memorable covers, and also Vanity Fair, where she relocated in the early eighties, producing some equally stunning work.
By going back and forth between a current assignment shooting promotional material for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, candid times spent at her private home editing an eventual book of her work, to interviews by those she captured on celluloid over the past 30 plus years, director Barbara Leibowitz offers an emotional product, which transcends the simple offering of a bio on a name closely associated with photography. Each interviewee, ranging from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hilary Clinton, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others, each offer a truthful testimonial to the sheer talent Annie Leibowitz displays in all of her works.
What to Look For in Life Through a Lens
There are many hidden gems within this documentary, some revelatory, some eye opening:
- A close friendship and kinship with fellow Rolling Stone writer Hunter S. Thompson, he himself a notable name in his own right
- Very touching discussions on Leibowitz's personal and intimate relationship with writer Susan Sontag
- An emotional interview with Yoko Ono, who, along with the late, great John Lennon, was the subject of powerful picture of John and Yoko, mere hours before Lennon was gunned down in front of the Dakota in NYC, at the hands of obsessed fan Mark David Chapman
- Leibowitz's relationship with her own young daughter, and thoughts on her own life, in her own words
Final Analysis of Annie Leibowitz: Life Through a Lens
While this isn't a full length documentary by any means, it is a very engaging biography describing a most peculiar individual, who has made her mark both on those around her, as well as the world at large, by way of timeless pictures which remain unforgettable in popular culture. As many interviewees attest at length in their testimonials, Annie Leibowitz is a gift to the world, in the manner in which she shows us a world filled with color, emotion, and pain.
During the testimonials, viewers should steer clear of interviews featuring Demi Moore. Though possibly one of Leibowitz's most famous and controversial subjects, Moore's tales drag on, and seem a bit overzealous, suggesting she is solely responsible for women's liberation in the 80's and how she transformed the power of pictures as news, and acts as a major turn-off, in contrast to the rest of this powerful piece.
8.5 out of 10, being a fine documentary, providing insight into a hidden pop culture icon
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