Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz joins prestigious French academy of fine arts
PARIS (AFP) — Photographer to the stars Annie Leibovitz, inducted into the French Academy of Fine Arts March 20, told AFP that AI was not a threat to her trade — just another artistic tool.
Leibovitz is arguably the world’s most famous living photographer — thanks in large part to the iconic figures she has snapped in her 50-year career.
Rare is the celebrity who has not been in front of her lens: from a naked John Lennon embracing his wife Yoko Ono on a bed (just hours before he was shot dead) to a pregnant (and also naked) Demi Moore, to world leaders such as Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama and Emmanuel Macron — and hundreds of celebrities in-between.
New opportunities in AI
Many see photography as threatened by the emergence of artificial intelligence tools that can generate images from simple text prompts.
But Leibovitz just sees new opportunities. “That doesn’t worry me at all,” she told AFP.
“With each technological progress, there are hesitations and concerns. You just have to take the plunge and learn how to use it.” She says AI-generated images are no less authentic than photography.
“Photography itself is not really real… I like to use PhotoShop. I use all the tools available.”
Even deciding how to frame a shot implies “editing and control on some level,” she added.
Leibovitzwas inducted as a foreign associate member of the French Academy of Fine Arts in a ceremony at the Institute of France March 20. It is her long-time collaborator, Vogue boss Anna Wintour, who presented her with the ceremonial sword.
Leibovitz began her career in 1970 with Rolling Stone magazine. As well as lots of rock’n’roll shots, she also covered many political assignments.
Her photo of President Richard Nixon leaving the White House by helicopter after resigning in 1972 went around the world. In the 1980s, she moved to Conde Nast where her work for Vanity Fair and Vogue made her a huge name in celebrity and fashion photography.
She said it was “quite an honor” to be inducted into the academy.
“But it’s a bigger honor for photography,” she added, recalling that it took until 2004 for the first photographer to join the academy, which is more than 200 years old.
“I like to be behind the camera, not in front,” Leibovitz said.
“But you realize at a certain point, when you have children as well, that you need to step up and be there for the next generation of artists and photographers.”