Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz (born 1949) is the most celebrated portrait photographer of her era — chief photographer of Rolling Stone by 23, author of Vanity Fair and Vogue covers that defined four decades of celebrity imagery, from a nude John Lennon curled around Yoko Ono hours before his death to Demi Moore pregnant.

“AI doesn’t worry me at all”

Inducted into France’s Academy of Fine Arts in March 2024 — an institution then wrestling with what generative imagery meant for photography — Leibovitz told AFP the technology posed no threat to her trade. Every technological advance brings hesitation, she argued, and the answer is always the same: learn the tool. She went further than tolerance, noting that photography was never an unmediated record anyway — she frames, edits, controls, and has long used Photoshop without apology.

The stance drew criticism from photographers worried about consent and displacement, who noted it is easier to be unworried at the top of the profession. But it is consistent with her career: Leibovitz’s portraits have always been elaborate constructions — lit, staged, and post-produced — closer to image-making than to witnessing, which is perhaps why a new image-making machine reads to her as opportunity rather than threat.