American Masters (1985–…): Season 20, Episode 8 - Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens - full transcript

Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz.
Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz, that's a very...,
she is unique you know..

Annie Leibovitz.
Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz.
Annie Leibovitz?

That Leibovitz woman.

Annie Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz.
Annie Leibovitz.

Anna-Lou Leibovitz.

Annie Leibovitz.



Whoo!

What am i supposed to say
when people ask me

These questions about,
your commercial work

Or your magazine work versus
this work or that work?

I would like to break down
those walls.

I would like to say,
i'm a photographer

And this is my work.

And some of it is this
and some of it is this.

And, you know, and two important
people to me died,

But i've had three births.

It's an amazing time.

Really great photographers
can't stop taking pictures.

They do it like other people
eat and breathe.

Her whole life
is the subject.



Whether i'm on assignment
or whether it's my family

Or, you know, whether it's like,
you know...

you know, my toes,
you know,

Or, you know, a foreign land,
it's interesting

To keep recording and seeing
what a life is, you know.

What is a photographer's
life?

It's just a life looking
through a lens.

Great, that's great.

Oh, this camera!

The man whose picture
i have to take,

George Clooney's
going to be here,

And i'm going to have to
talk to him,

And as soon as he goes away,

I can spend some more time
with you.

Okay, let's take the jacket off.
It's not working.

That's great.

Now look out towards,
towards these girls again.

That's good, that's good.
Actually...

That's great.

That's great, that's great.

See you guys later.

You know, it hasn't
stopped being a ride.

Everything is chockful
of interesting moments.

It feels more dynamic
than ever now.

That's why it's been
very hard for me

To have to say no
to doing something,

Which is why i was always
running myself

And everyone who worked with me
into the ground.

Thank god, you know,
the children,

So at least there's
some sort of pacing.

If we get everything
really organized,

Which is going to be
sort of a miracle,

Before we shoot
this morning...

It looked too even to me.

I mean, it's all the same
density.

I wish it had more,
you know,

Openness.

So... , um... , Kirsten,

We're going to keep
this hair.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Go ahead and look down
towards Kirsten.

Yeah, just hold it there.
That's great.

Sorry, i just can't help
myself, it looks so good.

You know, the thing is, i'd like
the red shoe better.

Oh, that's good.
That's good, that's good.

I'm going to do several kinds of
formats here,

So...

This looks incredible.
Hold on.

Going to another format.

Jason, um, just lean over it
like,

Arch your back a little bit
there, yeah.

Beautiful, beautiful.

Thank you very much.

Bravo.

Like, frustratingly fast,
because we're like

All dolled up,
And like, 10 minutes!
I know.

Oh, it's incredible.
Wow!

The white pants make it all.

So sexy in white pants.

Whoo! I saw him sit down
in those white pants,

And i went, whoo!

I'm just confused because..,

Looked so beautiful,
it's true,

I should have shot more.

She's such an enthusiastic mother,

And how she does it,
i don't know.

It's, with the three kids
and this work,

You know, and she's in
such a demand

And pressures.

Go back to the very
beginning

Of the genesis of
Annie's book.

The setting was important
because

It was at her house
on the hudson.

And it was in the barns,

And the physical space
really, really determined a lot.

So you walked into this enormous
and wonderful building...

This wall is the personal wall.

Mm-Hmm.

And this wall is
the magazine work.

I was dying to start
putting them together,

But i really wanted
to wait for you.

You know like, i realized
how many pictures i had.

And i realized i can't even

If we do this book, how big is
this book going to be?

This is just very, very,
very beautiful.

This was a thing i did with
Laurie Anderson.

There was this chris rock
picture which i sort of,

I couldn't believe
i got away with.

She puts such a stamp
on a picture.

You can look at her work and

There's no way anyone else ever
took that picture.

For me, Annie is,

If i had to select one word
to describe her,

Is that she's daring.

She is the tallest
and the most authoritative

Uncertain person...

I've ever seen.

Trying to please
the magazine,

Trying to please
the advertising client,

Trying to please the reader.

She persuades,
she cajoles, she seduces.

Annie has this freaky
connection to quality

That seems to have survived
her commercial success.

Some of the greatest
works of art ever made

Have been made as commissions
for specific clients.

We just have to think back
to the renaissance,

The great age of the Medicis.

In terms of
photography,

If you were involved
in rock and roll,

She was the person.

She evolved into
this portrait photographer,

This, um...,

Of this sort
of american portrait.

She has really been

A major chronicler
of our country.

What we care about,
what we think about.

I like the family pictures.

We all live in a world
where we have

Mothers and fathers
and lovers and children,

And loss and death and hope.

And, um, at the same time
you have a series

Of portraits of

These kind of monsters,
these giants,

And these figures shifting
around in the background

Or appearing on CNN.

Bill Gates, Bush, Clinton,

Power at the white house,
"Star Wars,"

And they impose themselves
on our lives.

And so we just

Started to weave them together.

This is a trip of Susan
to Germany.

And Susan is not
feeling well.

Feels concerned.

Susan always talked
about returning to Paris,

And she started to go with me
on these trips.

This is definitely a dilemma.

We have this stuff,

And then we also have the Bush
administration stuff

You know which you saw,
The war room and all that stuff.

Do we put it in or
we don't put it in?

I think
it's quite important.

They're interweaving
anyway.

Who's here?

Hi! Who's coming?

Now, why did you want
to do this interview in the car?

This is like mom and dad's last
station wagon.

To me, it means a lot
about family.

Means a lot for both of us.

We had this
huge family.

I'm first, and then there's
our brother Howard,

And then there's Annie,
who's the third, and Paula,

And Philip, and Barbara.

I've always liked cars.

You could get in the car
and drive, you know.

Your body is sort
of taken care of

And your mind is free
to just sort of float along.

We were traveling

From air force base
to air force base.

We moved from place to place
to place.

The family in the car
was the stable unit.

We lived in our car,
practically speaking.

We slept in the car,
and dad and i would

Take turns driving.

When you're
raised in a car,

It was easy to become
an artist because

We saw the world through
a ready-made picture frame,

Which was the frame
of the car window.

That was how you saw the world.

I didn't really have

Any real interest in
photography.

Photography to me was really
family based.

We had family pictures

And they were very, very
sentimental to me.

And they were important
to my mom,

She had them on the wall
everywhere.

My mother
was prolific in compiling

Documentation of our family.

We were just
so used to it

And we were used to it
at all different times.

We just thought
that the camera

Was another member
of the family.

In the late sixties,
the Vietnam war,

All of this country in turmoil.

It was this
huge rift in our family

To have our father in Vietnam,

And all of us marching against
the Vietnam war.

My father was stationed
in the Philippines

And i didn't really want
to go there.

My father actually had to come

And drag me to the Philippines.

I bought a camera and it had
a little needle inside

And you would line the needle up
and when it was in the circle,

Then you knew that it was
the correct exposure.

I started to use
the base darkroom.

It was like the hobby shop.
I didn't know what else to do.

And i took pictures

On the base and around the base.

Those are my first pictures.

Then they wanted me to go

To the university
of the Philippines,

And i managed to talk them into
letting me

Stay in San Francisco and go
to school there.

I was living
in Berkeley at the time.

So, my parents felt like it was
safe for Annie to come

To the San Francisco bay area
in 1967.

She got together with
a bunch of friends

And rented an apartment

Crammed with students,
and her room was the closet.

I went to
the San Francisco art institute

As a painting major.

I had it all figured out,
I was going to

Become an art teacher, but i
learned very early on that

You can't become an art teacher
until you become an artist,

And it was this...

Really?!!

The following summer i took
a workshop in photography.

They asked you to
go out that morning,

Take pictures, develop them
in the darkroom that day,

And that night you were sitting

And looking at what you did
and talking about it.

You go out and walk around,
and the immediacy of it.

There was like
a shared community watch

Where your prints came out,

And you wanted to make sure that
your print was out there,

With everyone else's says,
If it was ok and it was good.

It was something really wonderful.

About the whole process.

It just, it clicked...

it clicked with me, i'm sorry.

The school of photography

At the San Francisco
art institute,

Um, was really based on
Robert Frank,

Who was considered the father of
35 mm photography

In the United States.

And Cartier-Bresson,
who represented

The same kind of photographer,
in Europe.

They were considered the first
photographers

Who took photography in a way
that had never been done before.

They made it portable,
very very portable,

Very very relaxed,
very very fluid,

Because they
had a small camera.

And this is how i learned to
take pictures.

It was personalized
reportage work.

The very first book that i began
to realize

What it meant to be
a photographer

Was the Cartier-Bresson book,

And it was, it was called
"The world of Cartier-Bresson."

I remember sitting down
looking

At that book and seeing
that you could travel the world.

The camera gave you this license
to walk out

And be alone in the world,

But you know, you were there,
with a purpose.

It was a very important
discovery.

Every shoot has
its different dynamics.

You're not always trying
to get

The same things
from every shoot.

Remember, they had
the beautiful shots

Of her here?

Yeah.

She's gonna be upset with it
probably.

They're gonna kill us,
How much did those horses cost?

I said i didn't really
need the horses.

Definitely need fans,
two fans.

Hey, Ricky,

We got 20 minutes of light.

We're going to lose the light.

I was supposed to be there
when the movie

Was actually being made,
but that didn't happen,

So we had to sort of re-create
the film.

Oh, fabulous, oh, my god!

Jason, you come here.

Did you bring your mask?

This is the carriage they could
get at the last minute?

And... Watch your hair.

Excuse me, sir.

Do you speak english?
Come down here.

Everyone looks amazing.
You okay?

Chris, i need chris.

Camera's not working.

It's not working again.
Is it unlocked?

Oh, my god, it looks incredible.

That's beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful.

Yeah, great, great, great,
and great.

Let's go home.
Yay, whoo! Bravo!

And happy birthday.

Oh, thank you.
It was just fabulous.

Oh, no.., no.

Oh, okay,
have a good one.

We'll see you later
in the afternoon tomorrow.

That was the most
beautiful light.

That was sort
of anticlimactic.

It just wasn't good
enough for what it was.

But it was like,

Why don't we just put it
over here?

Arrgh!

Ohh!

I came out of San Francisco
and everything was about

Trying to make it
a better place,

And love, love, love,
and i don't say that lightly.

I still believe in, in all that.

? Well,
my name is a number... ?

I started reading
Rolling Stone,

And it got me interested in what
was happening in the late '60s,

And the underground, hippies
and all that.

It was the magazine of
its time,

It was the magazine of
the culture.

We grew up together.

Her boyfriend
at the time drove her

To the front door
of Rolling Stone magazine

And practically
pushed her inside.

What's it like up there at
Rolling Stone?

What are the people really like?
What's the big story there?

Hello, Rolling Stone.

Annie showed up at
Rolling Stone one day,

With maybe a bag of pictures
and met with the art director,

And we ran a couple.

It was all run by people her age
or just a little older, and all kind..

You know, nothing
super professional.

1966, 1967

Was the birth of the
San Francisco Rock'n'Roll scene.

There was The Dead,

And Jefferson Airplane,

And there was just ferment
in the air.

From there this scene grew

And it was out of that that
Rolling Stone came.

To Al Green
and to Rolling Stone.

There was this special
talent in the air, Tom Wolfe.

If there was one thing i liked,
it was the fact that,

About Rolling Stone was that,

You can obviously just
write your head off.

Hunter Thompson.

We were all working for
something we really believed in.

We were the only people really
describing

What was going on, and there
was a lot going on back then.

We were all really interested
in the idea of

Experimenting, experimenting
with our art,

And experimenting
with everything we did.

Never thought
about doing that before.

She had all this energy,
all this imagination.

She had a great
journalistic sense,

And i immediately had
the hots for her.

When i started to work
for Rolling Stone,

You were suddenly working with
other people.

You're working with an
art director, with a writer,

It was a whole other landscape.

The magazine is this
extraordinary empty canvas

That is waiting to be filled up
with imagery.

I remember the first time
i saw my very first cover.

That moment has stayed
with me forever.

It's just like so powerful to
see this image

Replicated over and over and
over again and on newsstands.

It's very powerful stuff.

I learned very early on

That something that wouldn't
seem like it was anything

Would be something.

And i enjoyed that aspect of it
so much.

I never liked to presume
something

About a story or a person,
until i got there.

I really do love working
for the magazine.

I get to travel.

Mobility is, like, my goal.

As long as i can move,

As long as i can keep moving,
i'm happy.

She was collaborating
with people

Who shaped her world
and influenced her,

Because she was a music fan,
People spoke to her.

I was going to
New York to do this interview

Which i had spent two or three
years working on setting up

And getting to know
John and Yoko.

John Lennon had never, ever,
ever given a real

In-Depth interview about what it
was like to be in the Beatles.

And he was ready to tell
the story.

And Annie came to me and said,

"I want to come along
and shoot it,"

And it wasn't my idea that she
come and shoot it.

Annie just begged to be
a part of it.

This was one of the first
really big musicians

That i was ever going to meet,
and i was dying to go.

I said, "please let me go
with you on this,

And i'll stay with some friends
and i'll fly youth fare."

She was like a student
still,

Very young and sweet,

And i thought, "this is
interesting that Jann did not

Get some famous, famous
photographer."

He had no airs about him.

I think i was in such awe,

That someone being just nice to you
and normal.

Being allowed to be there
That was a big deal.

He just set a precedent for me
of what you should expect.

She was more concerned
about the spirit, i think,

And.., that came through.

I really didn't know how
to direct anyone

To do anything.

I was taking my meter reading,

"If you could just look back
at me for a second,"

And i took a picture
at the same time

I was really taking
a meter reading.

? And we all shine on ?

She just had this
portrait of him, and i said,

Stunningly powerful!

It wasn't an act of genius
on my part to see it.

And Annie certainly after i
pointed it out.., saw it

You know,
I was dead set on it

That was going to be
the picture.

Knowing that you had
this talent,

To nurture it and make it
happen, i gave her the space,

You know, it was the obvious
thing to do.

She just did all that work,

I guess as part of that apprenticeship,
and it was constant.

He sort of left me
to my own devices.

I was never ever told
what to go do.

I felt that she was
really good to go out with

From a journalistic standpoint, and
she really did observe things well.

Little tics and feelings
of the place

In a way that i
might not have caught.

They really didn't
understand photography so well.

It was certainly not as
important to them as the story.

I covered everything
for Rolling Stone,

And Rolling Stone covered
everything.

It wasn't just
a music magazine.

She worked with Tom
on the astronauts.

Tom was doing
"the right stuff."

We took her out
on the campaign trail,

To ride the train with McGovern,
go cover watergate.

Annie Leibovitz,
our staff photographer.

She's around.

She just got back from
Hawaii.

Annie would work with
all the writers.

Hunter Thompson, quite a bit.

She and Hunter were fast friends,

And recognized in each other

That wild and spirited nature
of each other.

I have never been
a quitter.

To leave office before my term
is completed

Is abhorrent to every instinct
in my body.

When Richard Nixon
resigned,

Which we had all been
rooting for,

We wanted to go with something,
you know, a major issue.

Well, unfortunately the only
copy that had been assigned,

Really, was Hunter Thompson's
story, and he didn't file.

Finally, Hunter got what
he wanted

Nixon was gone.

He just got blocked up and he
couldn't write the piece.

That was a big triumph
In place of Hunter's words,

They used, they ran, you know,
several...

they ran a big
photo essay.

And then, you know,
i was with.., hm..

I was like one of the last journalists
they let in the white house.

Nixon's walking down
the red carpet

And gets in the helicopter.

Everyone had pretty much
moved away.

I was still out there
and i noticed that

The guards were rolling up
the carpet.

It's not the kind of picture that,

Anyone else had room to run,

Or would be interested
in running.

A lot can be told
from what happens

In between the main moments.

Annie, just went in there
With no particularly special access,

And delivered this beautiful
set of pictures of this event.

She was started to get full of
star status within the office,

You know, not quite equal to
Hunter, but near that.

In order to do the best possible
kind of photograph.

Or what it is..

That i'm in right now.

I really have to be in it.

It has to be around me.

Like, you know, that is the best
kind of photography,

Is what is around you.

You know like,
you become part of it.

What Annie would do was
she would spend

Two or three days on the road
with a person,

Or two or three days in their life.

If it was Fleetwood Mac
or the Allman Brothers,

She'd be on the bus with
the Allman Brothers

For three or four days
and achieve a level

Of understanding
and depth.

That's what makes these
photographs that she did

So intimate and so revealing.

In order to get the best
possible pictures,

One had to become part

Of what was going on and just do
everything that was going on.

And then you were there
and no one paid you any mind,

And you can take the pictures
you want to take.

We were all into doing
lots of oddball cultural things

Whorehouses in Nevada.

You know any kind of
subculture

Or slice of life thing,
and certainly

This was a window into subculture
we didn't know much about.

I met Annie the first time

On a flight down to South Africa
in 1975

When i went down to compete in
the Mr. Olympic competition.

Annie is a person that is
very good in adapting

To the circumstances and to
the people that are around.

So she was very quick
in adapting to

The body-building world.

She knew how to talk
to the body builders,

And she knew how
to make you feel good.

She always has a way of kind
of sneaking in

And becoming part of your life.

All of a sudden
you didn't even notice

That she was taking pictures
and recording the whole thing.

In the middle of where it was,
there was Annie,

But you didn't really say,
"get her out of here,

She's in my way," you always
felt like she's one of the gang.

? I'm talkin' 'bout
the midnight rambler ?

? And everybody
got to go... ?

Of course i was worried

About Anna-Lou being with
the Rolling Stones

At the time.

My advice to her
in the first place was,

Don't go on tour
with the Rolling Stones.

It was such a seductive
opportunity, you know,

The world's greatest
Rock'n'Roll band,

The high life,

Rolling the dice
at the top level, you know,

It was irresistible.

Shoot it for sure, but don't go,
I mean i..

I've had too many friends go on
tour and come back drug addicts.

I didn't know what i was
getting myself into.

It was unbelievably stupid
to pick that group of men

In that situation to decide
to sort of

Become part of something,

You know, We All drugging it up,
and hanging out.

My point was,
go on some of it,

Don't go on the whole thing,
at your own peril.

Photographers
attach themselves to you.

In those days people were much
more free and easy

Than they are now.

They didn't mind,

And none of them asked,
and nobody cared,

As long as they just got on
with everyone, it was okay.

She was one of the first female
photographers that i've remember.

Well, it made a change from
another bloke, you know..

This is interesting,
see how long she lasts.

You know, but she hung in, and
that was the other big surprise.

We thought, "she won't
last long," you know...

Being together every day

Day in, day out, week in,
week out.

She became very unobtrusive, you know,
you didn't think anything

About Annie walking around
going...

She'd find things that most
people wouldn't get around to.

She was around a lot.

She was around socially, too.

I remember there's
a picture here

Where i'd cut myself in
a restaurant in Montauk

Put my hand through the door
accidentally

And then i had to go
to the hospital in Southampton

To get stitched up, and she was
still taking pictures of me,

Being stitched.

My scar, it's kind of gone away
a bit now, but there it is.

? Well, you heard ?

? About the Boston ?

? Honey ?

? It's not one of those ?

Let me see it for a moment.

Oh, that one i don't remember.

? Talkin' 'bout the midnight ?

? Sh... ?

No, i certainly don't remember.

But that's what i mean,
She can see things that i can't.

? I'm called the Hit'n'Run ?

? Raper... ?

After about
10 concerts, you're getting

The same pictures,
After about 10 hotel rooms,

You're getting the same
pictures, so there wasn't

That much new to be gained.

And, frankly, i thought the situation
was very destructive and it played

To the most self-destructive
elements in Annie.

There were tons of drugs around,

At that time it has been their huge
drug period.

I did everything you're supposed
to do, when you go on

Tour with the Rolling Stones,
You know, i...

I mean just imagine everything
you can possibly do,

And i did it.

We had a big tussle over
a disagreement

About her doing that,
Which i was against.

Oh, so it was her idea?
I never knew whose idea

I thought it was maybe his idea
and that he'd sort of said,

"You're assigned to this,"
or something like that.

Okay.

But, you know,
she got something out of it.

She got a lifelong friendship
with the Stones out of it

And, you know, a great
reputation, you know

And she, you know, was t..

I guess by this point,
just beyond question

The number-one photographer
in our rock'n'Roll world.

Have you done it so much

That you could go in blindfolded
and make cover photos

For the Rolling Stone
and Mick Jagger?

I would never go into anything
like you said,

I mean i would..

I really take everything
pretty seriously.

She certainly conveyed

Something from behind the stage
or in the pit

And some bits which had never
really been seen before.

And the movement she captured,
I thought, was really fantastic.

It's a lot of footwork.

A tremendous amount of

Footwork, Your feet,
Well, i guess it goes

All the way up.

I've always been
interested in dance,

And i'm sure it comes from
my mother being a dancer.

It started with Isadora Duncan

Style of dancing and then went

Into more modern
with Martha Graham.

Anna-Lou had her
dance classes, too.

I promoted art as
much as i could.

There were these images
of Martha Graham

With her leg lifted up.

As i got older,
i realized these were

Barbara Morgan photographs,
and i started

To study how Barbara Morgan
took those pictures.

She really studied the dance,
and then she picked

Some moments and she, you know,

Re-created them.

I am photographed
all the time,

I'm sorry, and i'm comfortable
being photographed,

But i'm very specific.

I'm very careful not to look

Like a complete fool.

If i do,
it's on purpose.

The first time
i worked with Annie

Was a double portrait session,

Me and Mr. Mikhail Baryshnikov,

Who's a very good dancer
himself.

Actually i got
to know Annie through Mark

Because she was attending
all his rehearsals.

I always had
a dream, i guess, really based

On the Barbara Morgan-
Martha Graham relationship,

Really looking for,
how is a dance made?

We were very busy.

Mark was doing
a few new pieces,

And during the rehearsal,
she shot her material.

After a few days, we really kind
of forgot that she was there.

There's lots of pictures
in the sequence

That look like nothing.

They look like,

"Where's the focus
of this picture?"

There isn't a classical
triangle, you know,

Or point of view and depth
of field, bla bla bla.

There's just people
kind of dancing.

There's one that has everybody
sort of slow dancing,

And it looks
like a dance marathon,

And everybody's exhausted, which
you are if you're a dancer.

That was one of the best
times of my life.

I mean it, No, i'm serious.

No, Mikhail, it was really,
it was such an important...

Late dinners
and so much fun.

It was really fantastic.

The thing about a photograph
is that you are doing

A heightened moment or a moment.

Hmm.

This is truth, right here, us.

This is not truth.

This is like, This is kind of
a little note, a little letter.

I began to sort of
understand

That dance couldn't be
photographed.

How wonderful that it couldn't
be photographed.

There was something beautiful
about coming to that place

And realizing that
you were just kind of doing

A portrait of a moment.

It was this art that lived
in the air.

I've never done any aerial work
over the city itself.

I've been on the river,
but not in the city,

So it will be interesting.

The light is not fantastic,
so i'm not..

It's really more
of a reconnaissance.

Whoo! It's fantastic.

It's a great way
to see the city.

Whoo!

Today Rolling Stone started
moving into its new digs

More than 20 stories up
across the street

From the GM building, the Plaza,
and Bergdorf's at 58th and 5th.

The decision had to be to
consolidate the company.

You can't run it, you know,
split in half,

And as to where,
California or New York?

New York is where publishing is.

New York is where the talent
pool is that we need.

The ideas,
The intelligent ideas

And the photography in the
magazines seemed to be coming

Out of New York and Europe.

I wasn't really looking at the
fashion as much as i was looking

At the portraits.

Go out a little wider
to your north.

What began as
an underground magazine

In four small rooms
in San Francisco four years ago

Has now grown to
almost 40 rooms on 4 floors

On fifth avenue.

Some of the most expensive
office space in New York.

When Rolling Stone decided
to move to New York in 1978,

It might as well have been Oz,
it was just so far away.

I thought, "oh, i'll go
for a year.

I'll see what that's like,
for a year."

I never thought i was going to
end up in New York city

And be here this long.

If we were going
to be a part

Of the mainstream magazine
business

And be able to grow,

We really had to move out
of San Francisco

And move to New York.

Everybody had to grow up.

When you were in
New York, you were thinking

This is where Richard Avedon,
you know, lived!

And this was his town
and it was his work,

And Avedon represented
New York to me.

So i brought Annie

Up to Dick's studio and we all
had lunch together.

Dick was trying his best to,
you know, be polite

And engage Annie, and Annie was
her usual, very nervous self.

And it was funny that each of
them had their cameras.

Each of them took a picture
of the other person

And she was just horrified that
he was taking her picture.

I happen to think that

The cover idea that we've
evolved now,

Which is shooting against
an all white seamless...

is fantastic.

..I intend that

To continue with this style

For the indefinite future
on everything

And make this the style
of Rolling Stone covers.

I love it, it looks beautiful.

We don't necessarily have to
always shoot on white because,

As long as it's
a consistent style,

I think
it will do the same thing.

Moving to New York
was like hitting a wall,

Like hitting a brick wall,

That everyone who worked for
the magazine

Thought we were sort of moving
ensemble, that we were going

To be able to support each other
and help each other.

But everyone had so many

Of their own problems
to deal with that

It made it very hard for anyone
to support anyone else.

New York's a fun place,

But it's hard, and if you get
off the track

Just the least little bit,
it's a serious derailment.

There wasn't any kind
of support system

Set up for anybody moving there.

It was sort of like letting
children loose in a big city.

Annie needed more
attention and more help

And broader experience than
we were then able to provide.

She needed a teacher,
and she found Bea.

Bea, who was already
a legend

From designing magazines
and books, and she knew

Practically every really
talented photographer

And designer in New York,

And perhaps the world.

Bea Feitler took me
under her wing.

She was very, very, very
important at that period.

She said, "you
have to edit your work.

You really have to edit
your work."

I didn't understand
how she did it.

I would look at my contact
sheets for five hours

Trying to,
With my loupe,

Trying to figure out which one,
you know...

and she could look at
the contact sheets and in,

You know, three minutes,
she would have it edited.

She knew what was
the best one.

I didn't understand,
how did she do that?

How did she do that?
How did she know?

That's one of the greatest
learning experiences

You can have, is to take
your own work,

Have somebody who you
respect look at it,

And then figure out,
"why did they like these five

And not the other five hundred?"

And you learn a lot if you can
figure that out.

Because it's about lighting,
it's about pose,

It's about attitude, it's about

What you're trying to accomplish
in the shoot.

I have a good example of when
i did something wrong.

There was a group cover
with Bruce Springsteen

And James Taylor,
and Bonnie Raitt,

And Jackson Browne
and Carly Simon.

I think it was
an anti-nuke rally.

Jann wanted to put them
all together,

And I went and took

The pictures and just kind of
threw everyone against a wall

And took their picture

And came back with the film
to Bea

And she looked at me and she was

Just so angry.

She said, you know, "you really,
you really messed up."

I mean here was this,

You had this opportunity

And you could have made
something of this.

You could have made it a very
important photograph.

You could have done something
that would have taken

This thing to another level.

And you wasted that opportunity.

And it was a very, very
important lesson.

That one has to take it
to another place,

And you can make it something

That means something
to other people.

She started investigating

What other photographers
had done over the years,

And concept stuff
and bringing in props,

And she just brought
this wonderful thing to it,

Which was that a concept
somehow, you know,

Was going to be deeply connected
to something about this person,

You know, or something.

I remember seeing her
thinking all the time about

What to do, how to do it.

I link that to her picture
of Bette on a bed of roses.

We were doing promotion

For the Rock'n'Roll movie
called "The Rose."

She put me at ease
when i came in

And she explained the shot
to me, and of course,

By that time i was a little
bit big for my britches,

And i thought, "well,
i'm not so sure about this."

I saw that there were a lot of
roses, and i thought,

"Oh, my god, i'm going to be
scratched to death."

These were just
flower market roses

And they came in
all thorned.

And there was a last minute
hysteria because

I couldn't have her lie down
in thorns,

And we were sitting there
with clippers

Trying to de-thorn these roses,
you know, before she came in.

And i looked
and they were like,

There were so many thousands
of roses down on the ground,

And i thought,
"oh, she removed every one.

Oh, my god, she's so
thoughtful,"

And then i, of course was,
you know, her, her slave!

I get a letter a week after
the thing comes out,

From Avedon,
saying, "Dear Jann,

"Annie's cover of bette
is the best solution

For a magazine cover
i've seen in 30 years."

I think
that Bette Midler was

A very important picture,
because it was the beginning

Of trying to think of how
to do a set-up photograph.

What finally brought it home,
strangely enough,

Was not an assignment from
Rolling Stone,

But an assignment from
Life magazine,

To do a series of poets.

Robert Penn Warren, for example,
was writing about death,

And i wanted to take
his clothes off, really,

Because i wanted to see
underneath him,

I wanted to see inside him,
i wanted to see his skeleton.

Tess Gallagher wrote
a great deal about horses

And riding horses,
and i started to sort of really

Understand that i could
incorporate the poetry,

I could incorporate something
about the person

Into the imagery,
into the, into the photograph.

She kept doing that,
i mean, Fleetwood Mac,

Fleetwood Mac in bed,
on that mattress,

Shot from the top,
brilliant!

They all had been having affairs
with each other, so here,

Without saying it, here
they all were in the same bed,

Twisted around, this one with
that one in the sheets, i mean,

It was genius stuff.

It sounds simple, but when
you see it executed,

I think of that
Blues Brothers cover.

The idea when i
first heard it,

"Oh, paint their faces blue,"

I thought, oh, we
can do better than this.

That's so, you know,
obvious and dumb.

But dumb once done,

You know,
was stupendous.

There is something very
narrative about her photography.

You know, people do talk about
those as being story portraits.

Uh...

it's a story that's
one sentence long!

I mean i really do think of them
mostly as one-liners.

All the time they'd say,
"Aw, you've got

Such great ideas,
great ideas."

She says,
"i don't have great ideas,

I have stupid ideas, i have very
basic ideas, very simple ideas."

She made portraits of people

Which seemed to derive
from a very carefully

Considered idea.

A graphic concept,
perhaps a concept that has

A degree of humor,
irony built into it.

Her way is to approach the idea
of her subject.

Sometimes it was deeply
connected

To the personalities,

And other times it was kind
of a gloss, but done

With such style and simplicity.

She decided that
i would be standing

In front of an oil can,

I think, in flames.

It was getting very, very,
very hot,

And i thought, "boy, it must be
like 120 degrees,"

But that was because i was
starting to get singed.

And the caption was
something like,

"Patti Smith catches fire."

So i think the concept was,

I'd burst upon the scene.

People were
looking forward

To seeing Annie Leibovitz's
pictures in Rolling Stone

In a way that had never
really happened

With photographers
in magazines before.

It was like
installments from,

You know, a cliff-hanging
Dickensian novel

What was Annie going
to do next?

What incredible idea was she
going to come up with?

Who was she going to photograph?

? Love is real ?

The whole idea
of the conceptual cover

Is everything that i had learned
over the 10 years in between.

I remember Yoko and John being,
you know,

Like parents being proud of me.

They felt it was great that i
had come as far as i had come.

And they both remarked that,
and it was very, very sweet.

? To be loved ?

I was happy because

It was the height of intimacy
for both of us

Around that time.

It was not like, you know,
we had a fight

And we have to look like smile
to the camera or something.

We were just really feeling good
about being together.

While some photographers would
just come in and say,

"Okay, let me do it this way,"
but no, she said,

"This is what i'm thinking,
and what do you think?"

You know, kind of thing,

And John was very pleased
with that.

? To be loved ?

When you're working
with someone

Who's a very creative artist,
you know when it's good,

You just know
when it's good.

Everything is a process, and
what was interesting was that

She said she'd take her top off, and
she didn't want to take her bottom off

And i said,
"Oh, leave everything on,"

You know, not really

Preconceiving, seeing
the picture, or anything.

And then, you know,
he curled up next to her

And it was very, very strong.

John made
a statement,

"I'm not afraid to do this.

I'm not afraid to show
my vulnerability."

Because, you know,
he could have said no.

That's not John's
creative effort,

It was Annie's creative
effort,

But john could have said,
"no, i'm not doing that,"

You know, and he was
right on there with her.

He said, "okay,
let's do that," and he did not

Mind showing himself naked
holding on to his woman.

? Love is living ?

And we didn't know that...

A very heavy fate was waiting
for us,

You know, only four or five
hours later.

? To be loved ?

I left there, and
i got home and got into bed

And then got a call from Jann

To say that someone
of John's description

Was taken to Roosevelt hospital.

He died
in the emergency room...

The murder
of John Lennon...

Dead tonight
at the age of 40.

You knew that
that was the cover for that.

I mean it was the most
remarkable image

You had ever seen.

We went ahead and published
the cover

Without a headline on it.

There was nothing except
the logo.

There were no words that
possibly

Could have said anything.

The nature of the image
just became

This sort of overwhelming
artifact

Of the Pieta of our times.

I had been
at Rolling Stone for so long,

Almost 13 years, and i was
synonymous with Rolling Stone.

I was asked if i
would become

The photographer
for Vanity Fair,

And they were quite happy
to have me

Still working for Rolling Stone.

Bea Feitler
offered her that opportunity.

It was her idea to bring Annie
from Rolling Stone

Into a non-existent
publication then.

I actually really wanted to work
for both magazines,

I thought, you know,
why wouldn't i want to?

I didn't think Jann was going
to say no.

Annie was in
a peak drug use period.

By that time,

Annie had gotten so
irresponsible in terms of

Leaving rent-a-cars everywhere,

Not turning things in on time.

Working
at Rolling Stone,

I mean,
it was a drug culture.

Who were my mentors?

You know, Hunter Thompson,

Who was a total maniac
and was never off drugs.

And it certainly wasn't about
trying to zone out.

I mean it was more

About zoning in, and i think

There was a great interest
in cocaine

Because it propelled you,
it kept you going,

And it made you think you were
thinking.

There was
no stopping her.

I didn't think i was going to be
able to stop her,

I certainly tried,
and everything,

But you know, you can't.

We were happy to say, "you know
what, go to Vanity Fair.

"You need a big change of life.

"Get into a situation where
there are not so many drugs.

"Get away from covering
these kinds of people,

Every time you go out,
you're involved in that."

We got her into a very, very
wonderful rehab place.

And that cured her forever.

You know,
i got professional help,

And it was done.

And i just took a deep, deep,
deep breath and moved on.

It was like growing up.

I needed to leave in order
to understand

What i could do and who i was.

Hi, and how are you?

Forget about putting that stuff
up yet.

I got to organize the place or
it's not going to work for me.

That table here.

Six of those chairs for now.

Bring it here and get everyone
to hang up their coats.

This thing moved back
to this wall.

This garbage can can go
to the left here,

But i think we should move
these chairs over.

Can't work in a messy place.

When Annie made
the leap from Rolling Stone

To Vanity Fair, she herself was
taking a big risk.

She had been very much
identified

With the Rock'n'Roll world.

For her to come to Vanity Fair,

To come into the kind of glossy
conde nast stable,

Was a statement by her,
I am now taking my work

Into a more mainstream area.

Who's in charge of these seats?

Tina Brown
put me to work,

And she put me to work,

Oof! In a way

That i haven't really stopped
working.

I mean, she really,
she used me non-stop.

I wonder if Julia Roberts
would wear something like that.

You know, she's like
mother earth or something.

A lot of people
will say to me,

"It looks like it would be
so much fun to just

Hang with your sister
while she takes pictures."

You do not want to be anywhere
near when she's taking pictures

Because she's very focused,

And you just don't want to get
in the middle of that.

I want to put him at her feet,

That's going to be
George Clooney, so turn around.

She's very demanding.

And she can be very difficult.

I like to think of her as
Barbra Streisand with a camera.

Hi!

Thank you, Hi.

Very often celebrities
would say no

Because Vanity Fair had had
a very checkered history.

Annie's name

Was the "open sesame"
to so many artists

Because they knew that they

Would get something
extraordinary.

She would push them into
doing things

That they might not be able
to do with anybody else.

Come to the garden!
The mysterious garden.

Oooh!

George god damn it!

You, young man, come here, sit.

Oh, i'm not
even in this shot.

I'm operating a camera.

You're just on the ground,
at her feet.

Again?

George, actually you don't
look very comfortable.

You want to come right on
your bottom?

Try your arms out
on the, just...

Fantastic, great!

Okay.

Going from Rolling Stone
to Vanity Fair,

I didn't really have the tools
to make people look good.

I didn't quite understand there
was a good side and a bad side.

All that stuff seemed silly
to me,

That people should
get dressed up.

When you saw Jerry Garcia
and he had on his T-shirt,

You didn't think, "well, hey,
maybe you want to put on,

You know, a suit or something."

Here we go, here we go.

Is the fan going?

You can move little bit...

George, now move
your bottom over a little bit.

To your left.

Julia, lean your bottom
right into the wall there.

And, George, your bottom
still has to go, Yeah.

And...

The cover is kind of
a thankless dilemma.

Because the cover is not
a photograph.

I mean, you might as well
be doing advertising.

It really is designed
to sell the magazine,

And i am put in the position
of having to take those pictures

But my work really lives inside
the magazine.

My real photographs
are inside the magazine.

There is, every now and then,
a moment

Where it opens up
and you can do

The kind of work you really
could only dream about.

This is a portfolio done
in '93.

He was having a victory cigar.

They had just moved in.

And i said, "would you smoke
that cigar?"

And he said,
"in your wildest dreams

I'll smoke that cigar."

You are sweet, try that?

That is
so beautiful.

Absolutely.

She has this thing
about her.

Stunning.

But, This would be very nice.
- Yes.

See how they work?

I just like that Jamie Foxx
is this,

You know, who got the oscar,
The kind of crudeness of it

Is really beautiful.

You want to put it between
the two women?

And then Julianne Moore
really is

This kind of
heightened reality thing,

It's a very Hollywood,
strange picture.

We've got three or four threads
that are running through.

We've got the entertainment
industry

And we've got
Hollywood

And the magazine culture.

We've got the personal
narrative,

The family narrative,
we've got

The primary
relationship with Susan.

It was surprising
to know

That Susan and Annie were
together, but it seemed right

You know, as soon as you
heard it.

"Oh, Yeah, What a good idea."

Susan Sontag was
the premier female intellectual,

And one of, uh, a dozen
intellectuals, period,

In the United States
for a long period of time.

When i met Susan,

She needed publicity pictures.

To do my homework,
i read "The Benefactor."

I am not a big reader,

And i found it incredible
because it just was like someone

Living inside
their mind or brain.

And i just talked to her
about it, We just had

A really great time.

Susan Sontag wrote:
Brilliant essays very early.

Ironically, one of her
most famous ones

Long before she
knew Annie was on photography.

She knew how
to have her picture taken.

She knew herself very well
and she was very confident.

And for a photographer,
it was like,

She took the work out
of your hands,

She just turned herself on,
you know.

Obviously, i was really
taken with her.

She just sort of decided that
she was going to know me.

And that was it.

My reputation was
Rolling Stone agazine

And Vanity Fair
and popular culture,

What the hell was she doing
with me?

When i went to Vanity Fair,
they came to me

And said, "we want you to be

The Edward Steichen
of Vanity Fair."

In the grand tradition
of great portraiture.

And there wasn't any kind of
sense that it was

Going to be pop or hip
the way it turned out to be.

But it totally went, uh, glitzy.

5, 6, 7, 8, 1...

Even the most set-up,
stylized photograph

Is going to give you something.

It was a huge deal.

And then she turned up,
and it was like, "Hi!"

And she said, "I'm going to
put you in a tub of milk".

"I want to show that you are
emerging from what was,

Which was all white."

And i thought, "Honey, whatever
you want, whatever you want."

Cats followed me
for weeks afterwards.

And when that picture came out,

Everything changed, literally,
overnight.

I was walking down the street
on friday night,

Just walking down the street,
and saturday morning

People were yelling my name.

When i did
the Trumps,

I had to do it
tongue in cheek.

Ivana Trump posing so hard,

She looks like she's going
to break off the chair.

The era of the Reagans

And "Dynasty" era
and heavy makeup

And nails
and the whole thing,

Everything very
glitzy.

But i actually love
Ruth Westheimer really big.

She's like
the mad scientist.

It's just amazing.

But i like
the other one.

We can always put her
next to Don Johnson,

Thinking about sex.

This is what Ruth Westheimer
thinks about at night.

Tina Brown,
She had a brilliant way

Of mixing high
and low materials.

She was very interested

In creating controversy.

So Annie fit really well
into that scheme.

We used to have great brainstorm
sessions together,

Where we would just kick it
around, and i would think,

Wow, light bulb.

A single image can
have a profound effect.

I have as many people come up
and respond

About those covers as much as
i have for films i've done.

She's pushed me with the things
that we've done.

If they're photographed
a lot,

They really want to, you know,
do something that is different.

It's nice to take the photograph
a little farther.

I was huge pregnant.

I had asked, "can we do
a nude for me?"

We are people meeting

To create a piece of work,

And we're going to
collaborate.

Well, as soon as
the picture came in

And Annie said, "why don't
we just do it on the cover?"

I had no idea it was going to be
the media explosion that it was.

The cover kicked off discussion
of motherhood

And a discussion of the way
women look.

I mean, it still goes on,
actually.

That picture took us from
800,000 to 1,000,000

And it's never gone
below that.

For Demi Moore, it made
her famous forever, actually.

When we say
that this particular person

Caught our eye this week,
we mean it literally.

This is an
astoundingly talented woman.

She makes a difference in part,

Because she provokes people.

Hi.

Here i am.

I never would have thought,
I would be interested in fashion.

You feel a little guilty,
"Is it okay if i go do that?

Because i'm not really
a fashion photographer."

Oh, wait.., wait.

Just do a couple of steps
with this.

You should see her walking
backwards, it's so bizarre!

Beautiful, beautiful!
Oh, my god! Aah!

Come a little further, ooh.

I always
thought that she

Was way too grand and important
to want to work for Vogue.

There's kind of a funny bubble
right there.

Yes,
She drives us crazy,

Of course, and, you know,
budget is not something

That enters
into her consciousness,

But it's worth it because
at the end of the day,

She gives you an image
that nobody else can.

She just cares so much.

She cares, she cares.

That's beautiful, beautiful,

Thats you,
You will not believe this.

In today's world,
which is so celebrity driven,

Being able to use, you know,

Annie as one of our star
photographers,

Is just a huge,
huge plus for us.

If you ring up Nicole Kidman
and say, you know,

"Joe Smith's going to
photograph you, you know,

Next month", You know,
a big yawn.

If you ring up and
say, "Annie Leibovitz

Wants to photograph you
for the cover",

You know, she'll be there that
night, you know, with bells on.

Hey, Chris, Chris,
stand there.., stand there,

Are you the biggest
photographer in the world?

No.
Do they have like rankings?

Do you have the belts?

Almost every celebrated figure
of our times knows

An unassuming young woman with
a camera named Annie Leibovitz.

From the Stones to the Trumps,
photographer Annie Leibovitz

Has captured everyone
who is anyone.

Okay..

Okay, let's not have
everyone staring.

She is the apex,
of the image culture

That is so fixated on celebrity,
and she has

Catered to that,
she has done it beautifully.

But it's a shabby culture
in the end.

I've photographed
all your wives.

Beautiful,
beautiful.

The state Of celebrity in America,
is at an astounding low point.

In the old days, you had to be
Peter Ustinov

Or Yehudi Menuhin to be famous.

Now you can be on a reality TV
show and be considered famous.

It's been the bane of
my existence,

Someone being so famous,
and totally relying on that,

Versus trying to take
a good photograph.

I think they're winning,
The famous people are winning.

Okay, be famous.

Hi! Wow! Look how beautiful.

I can't say that photographing
celebrities didn't change

My sister's viewpoint.

She's just got
sand in her shoe.

Take the shoe off.

Just living
in that world changes you.

Let's go,
This is actually nice,

You looking a little
to your left like that.

That is so great.
That's great.

Thank you.
Let's go. Whoo!

Fantastic!

You can look a little bit
out this way.

I had to find my own
sort of way to do it,

And part of it was, "well, god,
if you're using an actor,

Why not
have a little story?"

Get the fan going?
Get the fan going.

Drop the tail.

Really...

Waaaah!

Great, and come on down!
Yay!

Little by little,
month after month,

It got a little bit more complicated
with every shoot.

I'm afraid that's going, is that
going in their eyes at all?

Oh!

That's fantastic
like that.

Excellent!
Excellent!

Her demands
became bigger,

Fire, rain, cars, airplanes,
circus animals,

Whatever she wanted, she got.

1, 2, ready, go...

All right, do the three
fight song medley

Marching in place.

Here we go,
here we go.

2, 4, 6, 8!

Let's go, yay!

Whooo!

We needed that.

There are a lot
of photographers out there,

They don't really suffer
and agonize and obsess

The way that Annie does.

Anyway...

I started in
this business so young

That all the other lives
did seem

Much more exciting
and adventurous.

And you do sort of think
you are living that life

And you forget to build
your own.

The cause of women
is a question of justice.

Susan was a really important
person in my sister's life.

They had a kind of

Emotional, intellectual bond
that was really essential

And important to both of them.

Susan, of course, was entirely
A word person, and Annie

Is pretty entirely
an image person.

They complemented each other.

I'm sure they could learn
from each other

And probably represented
unexplored parts

Of themselves for each other.

I went into
the relationship thinking,

That i wanted to be close to
this greatness

And to move my work
to a better place.

Susan obviously was this
huge intellect.

She brought an intellect
to Annie's work.

She was able to talk
about Annie's work,

Look at Annie's work,
critique Annie's work,

Discuss Annie's work
with Annie in ways

That i don't think
anybody had been able to before.

And Susan loved Annie's work.

And Susan did want me
to be more serious in my work.

I think Susan would
make Annie feel

That she wasn't an intellectual,

And i think it probably
hurt her.

I mean, she would be
really tough with Annie,

And somehow Annie persevered.

I was very nervous about going,

Because i just thought
well, you know,

That someone's going to say,
"what are you doing here?"

First of all, i'm doing what
i can, and, and bearing witness.

Susan Sontag was
involving herself

So emotionally and
professionally in Sarajevo

And wanted Annie to go
to Sarajevo

And take pictures that almost
echo back to Annie's beginnings,

Which were, in a sense,
photo reportage, small cameras,

Not going with a big crew,
Just having

An intimate relationship
with the place and the scenes.

The thing they would
suggest to you

When you first arrive
in Sarajevo is

Go to the morgue first.

I mean, just so you understood
what was going on.

You know, it was war,
it was war.

Everything was stripped down
to life and death.

It was really so random,
There was no rhyme or reason

To living or dying.

It was a real leveling
experience.

It sort of put some of the work
that i do

Back into
the correct perspective.

Because i remember i had to go
from being in Sarajevo

Right back to doing Barbra Streisand,
and stuff like that.

Suddenly Barbra Streisand
didn't seem so relevant.

What side Barbra Streisand needed to
be photographed from didn't seem,

You know, important.

Whoa!

You are working really hard,

And before you know it,
you're 50 years old,

Like Annie was and you're like,

"Oh, my god,
i forgot to have children."

No more pictures!

No more.., ok.

I love raising
my children, you know,

I thought the world was flat
before i had my kids

And now it's round.

Family is very
important to her.

We have this tradition of taking
the family photograph.

All of us lined up the way annie
tells us to stand

And where she directs us to go.

I just love those
family pictures.

Taking pictures
of my family and, you know,

People to whom you're close to
is a privilege

And it certainly brings
a certain kind

Of responsibility.

Sarah in big,
Sarah in medium,

Sarah in medium,
Sarah in small.

What's this picture?

Well, this is when Susan,
Several years ago,

Susan was,.. was sick,
She had a.., She had..

A problem,

And, um, then she went
to see the doctor

And he fixed it
all up.

Susan had gone out to seattle,
for a bone marrow transplant.

There was a very slim chance
that it was going to work.

I decided i was going to spend
my thanksgiving with Susan.

And Susan was not doing
so well.

And then the call came,

That basically the bone marrow
had failed.

So i flew out and brought her
home on that small jet.

It was the first time
i thought...

I should take some pictures.

I could not be unaware,

Of how charged
and emotional it was for Annie.

The way Annie
photographed people

Just told us who they are.

Portrait photography had been
around for many, many decades,

And there had been

Photographers who had been
celebrated

As great portrait photographers,

But Annie brought a totally
different dimension to it.

She has no parallel
when it comes to a portrait.

I didn't see
the shot she picked

Until it came out,
and i remember

Looking at the picture
and thinking,

"Is that what i look like?"

Because i looked at it
and the person that i saw

I wasn't yet familiar with.

But as i've evolved as
a human being,

I've come to know that person
that she saw in the shot.

Thank you.

She's famous
for taking photographs

Of famous people, which she's
done longer and better

Than anyone,
and the way that she has

Captured their character,

Their attitudes,
their insecurities,

But she's humanized them
at the same time.

She came up with ideas
of how to show these people,

Put them in a broader context.

I just don't buy into
this idea

That you've captured someone.

The fact that that's even
thought of

As that's what my job is,
is to get them or you got,

You know,
I'm just bewildered by that.

Life is just so much
more complicated

And so much bigger than
this one-dimensional moment.

Does Annie capture the essence
of her subjects? - No.

Can you get to the inside of
a person in a portrait?

There are many photographers
who've said

You can't do it anyway.

Look out
to your right.

Great, come back
to the camera.

You've got one fraction
of a minute.

You've got somebody who is
behaving for the camera.

You have the photographer's
control of the situation.

You have people who don't want
to give you

Whatever they consider
their essence.

They want to give you
a persona,

Which is something else.

What i am doing
as a photographer

Is getting a little tiny
slice of them.

I'm getting a little
moment.

You're there for a few minutes
and you leave and...

you're passing through
each others' lives.

Where was that?

That was just the beginning
of this year.

I went down to say goodbye
to grandpa Sam.

I flew down to Florida and i had
a wonderful talk with my dad.

That's these set
of pictures here.

And then two days later,
he died in his sleep.

Remember we talked about how we
go back into the earth?

We go back into the ground

And become a part
of the world again?

That's where grandpa Sam went,
back into the earth

And the ground and the world,
and he's part of

All the other parts of life.

That's where he went.

That's where Susan went, too.

I remember having
christmas with Susan

In the hospital,

And she died three days later.

I just shot
with a digital camera.

And i went home to print it on
the little digital thing,

And it came
out all green and weird,

But i sort of liked it.

And that was just
the contact sheet,

And then i went back and shot
the polaroids.

She certainly didn't
flinch from the pain

Of the deaths that she
went through, you know,

The losses
that she suffered.

She didn't back up from that
or avoid it,

Or try to figure out how to get
around it, she photographed it.

I mean, that's amazing.

She brought a sense of poetry
to her loss.

Susan came, she was here,

And she left.

And i...,
And i want more time,

And i'm left with my work.

My work turns out
to be the greatest relationship

Of my life.

I guess in the wake of loss,
i mean, actual loss,

It's a little comforting
to take pictures.

I feel very, very
responsible to my work.

I love the idea that it has
gone over my whole adult life.

I just think it's important
to finish it out.

You know, i want to be,
you know, photographing

you know, the day i die.

I'm looking all the time,

In every direction i look,
i'm framing.

And my personal pictures
and the assignment work

Are all part of it.

I don't have two lives,
this is one life.

? will you remember me... ?

She's shooting me,
and i had to go down

Quite far into the water,
and i was really sick.

And i was in a kimono.

I can't begin to describe
how cold it was.

Very, very cold.
Freezing, freezing cold.

It was snowing, it was a storm,
it was terrible,

And i was like...
i almost died.

Difficult, or physically rigorous or
like an outward bound experience

Or a survival camp.

It's just an odd felling, you know,
you've heard of people

Beeing in milk baths, and you think:
"Oh, that msut be very luxery"

But it's not, and stuff does
start to flood in the milk,

It's kind of nasty to look at,
after a while.

Sometimes it's just like it's not
even bother, I..

She look at me, "can you..",
I said: "No".

And she would just keep saying,
"just remember, it's that

"The freezing and the pain
is all temporary,

But this shot is permanent!"

You guys were great!

Thank you! Bravo!