A $2500 Terrific Tome From Taschen of Annie Leibovitz' Awesome Photography.

UPDATE: My sincerest apologies to my readers, but the PR rep from TASCHEN contacted me this morning and asked me to remove the images that appear inside the book, telling me are copyrighted images owned by Annie Leibovitz and are not permitted to be used on this blog without explicit permission.

I figured since it was free advertising for their publication and that many of these images are all over the web, I was not violating any copyright laws. I was mistaken and therefore can only show you the cover images.

Whoopi Goldberg, Berkeley, California, 1984:


If I had money to spend willy-nilly (yes, I just used the term "willy-nilly"), one of my first purchases would be this soon-to-be-released terrific tome from Taschen: A Collector's Edition of 40 years of the work of photographer Annie Leibovitz. The SUMO-sized book  is available as either a signed and numbered Collector's Edition or as an Art Edition, complete with a signed and numbered fine art print. Both are presented on a stand designed by Marc Newson.

Keith Haring, New York City, 1986


The huge 476 page, 57 lb. hardcover book (it measures just under 20" x 30") has over 250 photographs, comes with four different dust jackets, has 6 fold-outs, a supplement book and a book stand, designed by Marc Newson. Contributing authors are Steve Martin, Graydon Carter, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Paul Roth.

David Byrne, Los Angeles, 1986


The Collector’s Edition is available in four different dust jackets -Whoopi, Haring, Byrne and Smith - (The Collector's Art Edition includes all four):

Patti Smith, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1978


Both versions come with an adjustable lucite and steel stand designed by Marc Newson:





Vanity Fair Magazine has included a first person excerpt from the book here

Info from Taschen:
When Benedikt Taschen asked the most important portrait photographer working today to collect her pictures in a SUMO-sized book, she was intrigued and challenged. The project took several years to develop and proved to be revelatory. Leibovitz drew from over 40 years of work, starting with the viscerally intimate reportage she created for Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s and extending through the more stylized portraiture of her work for Vanity Fair and Vogue. Celebrated images such as John and Yoko entwined in a last embrace are printed alongside portraits that have rarely, and sometimes never before, been seen. Leibovitz was able to present some of her famous group portraits in a format that proves that she is the master of the genre. Her pictures are at once intimate and iconic, wide-ranging stylistically and also uniquely hers. Leibovitz is often imitated, particularly by younger photographers, but her work is somehow immediately recognizable.

The bookends of the Leibovitz collection are the black-and-white photograph of Richard Nixon’s helicopter lifting off from the White House lawn after he resigned as president in 1974 and the formal color portrait of Queen Elizabeth II taken in a drawing room of Buckingham Palace in 2007. In between are portraits that make up a family album of our time: actors, dancers, comedians, musicians, artists, writers, performance artists, journalists, athletes, businesspeople. Performance and power are recurring themes. A supplementary book contains essays by Annie Leibovitz, Graydon Carter, Paul Roth, and Hans Ulrich Obrist and short texts describing the subjects of each of the over 250 photographs.

The Collector’s Edition is available in four different dustjackets:
Whoopi Goldberg, Berkeley, California, 1984
Keith Haring, New York City, 1986
David Byrne, Los Angeles, 1986
Patti Smith, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1978



Limited to a total of 10,000 signed and numbered copies, this book is available as Collector’s Edition (No. 1,001–10,000) and also as Art Edition (No. 1–1,000 with a signed and numbered fine art print by Annie Leibovitz. The Art Edition is presented with the full set of all four dust jackets. For information about publication date and price, please contact us). Both editions will be presented with a book stand designed by Marc Newson.

The photographer:
Annie Leibovitz has been a working photographer for 40 years. She was the chief photographer for Rolling Stone and then the first contributing photographer for the revived Vanity Fair. In addition to her editorial work at Vanity Fair, and later at Vogue, she has created several award-winning advertising campaigns. She has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The authors:
• Steve Martin is a celebrated comedian, actor, writer, and musician. In 2010, he published the novel An Object of Beauty.
• Graydon Carter has been the editor of Vanity Fair since 1992.
• Hans Ulrich Obrist is the co-director of exhibitions and programmes and director of international projects at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
• Paul Roth is the director of the Ryerson Image Centre in Toronto.

Other SUMO sized books from Taschen:
Taschen has produced two other SUMO sized books, one featuring the works of Sebastião Salgado on a wooden stand by architect Tadao Ando and the other (one I have always coveted) of Helmut Newton's work on a stand designed by Philippe Starck.

Vanity Fair's 2014 Hollywood Issue Cover, Close Up & Behind The Scenes.

On February 11th, The 20th Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair hits the newsstands. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the magazine celebrates a year of spectacular film with a group of distinguished actors on the cover as it has done annually for the past two decades.

Left half of the full shot:

Right half of the full shot:


This is the most racially diverse cover ever for the annual Hollywood Issue, which includes six actors of color - a nod to both Hollywood's embrace of more racially diverse films and roles as well as to progress for Vanity Fair who has been criticized in the past for being both "too white' and 'too sexist." Of the 19 previous Hollywood Issues, the majority of actors gracing the covers have been white, although occasionally an asian, latino and/or black actor has been featured among the group. But to have six black actors on the cover is a welcome record for Vanity Fair.

The cover as it appears closed and the full fold-out:



The cover, a three-panel foldout, features Oscar nominees Julia Roberts (August: Osage County), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), as well as Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), George Clooney (Gravity), Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station), Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Brie Larson (Short Term 12), Chadwick Boseman (42), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), and Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color).

Individual close-ups:








Some still shots from behind the scenes at the photoshoot:




A video of the photoshoot:


The magazine will be on national newsstands on February 11.

Vanity Fair

The Five New Celebrity Disney Dream Portraits by Annie Leibovitz - And A Look Behind The Scenes.

In the past, I had shared all the Disney Dream Portraits (wonderful photographs of celebrities portraying Disney characters by photographer Annie Leibovitz) up through 2011 here.

A Picture Is Worth A Couple Hundred Thousand Sales. Or Not. The Best & Worst Selling Magazine Covers of 2011.

Ordinarily I try to write original content for the blog and do not reprint an article by another source. However, this article by John Koblin for WWD is a nice informative wrap up (albeit lacking for other variables) on what magazine covers were hits and which were bombs in 2011. Ten images accompanied the article, but I know that upon reading it, I felt the need to see all the magazine covers to which they were referring so I've found each and every one and included them here for you. Enjoy!

No matter what crisis there is on the newsstand, there are a few people who sell no matter what.

Take Sarah Jessica Parker. She pops up on the cover of Elle back in January, Vogue in August and Marie Claire in September and delivers each monthly its second or third best seller of the year.

Sarah Jessica Parker 2011 Covers:



Or, let’s consider Heidi Klum, who can help deliver Lucky its second best seller in March (175,000 sales in a year when they need it!) or bring the August Glamour its second best performer (510,000 sales, in a year when they really need it!).

Heidi Klum 2011 Covers:


Or Jennifer Aniston, who was Marie Claire’s top seller of the year in that sleepy summer month of July, and, from all indications, delivered Elle one of its best performers of the year in November.

Jennifer Aniston 2011 Covers:


It’s that time of year, everyone. Time to look back and see who sold (and who didn’t) at the newsstand for monthly magazines in 2011. All data is taken is from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, much of it from the Rapid Report, which is subject to minor change since it has not been audited. The majority of publishers have filed results through October or November issues.

So, if SJP, Heidi and Jen are consistently sellers — and have been for some time — isn’t there a newcomer we can add to the list?

Mila Kunis was the new runaway success of 2011. Kunis’ August GQ cover delivered 205,000 sales, by far its biggest hit of the year, through November. She took to W in March and delivered sales 15 percent above average for the fashion monthly. She was the February cover star of Cosmopolitan and brought in 1.7 million sales, which is nearly 10 percent better than the monthly’s average for the first half. And then she graced the cover of Elle in August in a portrait with Justin Timberlake, which brought in 250,000 sales, fourth best of the year for Elle.

Mila Kunis 2011 Covers:



And, apparently, Timberlake needed the Kunis boost. Timberlake’s W cover with Amanda Seyfried, for instance, bombed, selling a mere 15,000 copies, the title’s second worst performer of the year. And then Timberlake’s solo cover for Esquire in October brought in a teeny 73,000 sales, its worst performer of the year.

Justin Timberlake 2011 Covers:


But Timberlake should take comfort in the fact that he isn’t the only heartthrob who can’t sell: Justin Bieber bombed, too. Bieber took Vanity Fair’s cover in February and tanked — it sold 245,800 copies, the third worst seller since Graydon Carter took over the magazine in 1992. Bieber then appeared on the cover of a Rolling Stone issue in March, and sold 5 percent worse than average for the biweekly. But we’ve known this for some time. He appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue and sat down with People last year and sold 10 percent and 25 percent worse, respectively, than average for both titles.

Justin Bieber 2011 Covers:



Other bad years: Mrs. Andy Roddick, Brooklyn Decker, posted 81,000 sales for Esquire in February, its second worst performance of the year. Apparently she doesn’t work for women’s books either, as she brought in a mere 182,000 sales for Self, which is 25 percent below the monthly’s average in the first half. Moral of this story, Brooklyn: Stick with Sports Illustrated.

Brooklyn Decker (Mrs. Andy Roddick) 2011 Covers:


Fergie struggled at the newsstand as well, with the worst seller of the year for Allure in July and the fourth worst cover for Lucky in June.

Fergie 2011 Covers:


Also, Michelle Williams sold poorly at Marie Claire (third worst performer with 202,000 sales) and for Vogue (second worst performer with 296,000 sales).

Michelle Williams 2011 Covers:


Likewise, Reese Witherspoon struck out with Vogue (303,000 sales), Marie Claire (242,000 sales) and Glamour (440,000 sales), which represented a below-average performance for each of the monthlies.

Reese Witherspoon 2011 Covers:



It’s impossible to talk newsstand in 2011 without mentioning the person who landed on more covers than anyone: Kim Kardashian. She was Glamour’s bestseller of the year with her February cover and Cosmopolitans’s bestseller as well, when she helped bring in 1.8 million sales in August. But her results elsewhere were mixed. Her Harper’s Bazaar cover in March, her April Self cover and her November Lucky cover were all mild hits — they sold a few percentage points above average. Her December Marie Claire cover isn’t expected to be a barn burner, and a source said that her January 2012 Glamour cover with sisters Khloé and Kourtney is on track to fall below 400,000 sales — a really poor performance. Perhaps the Kardashian Krash is beginning?

Kim Kardashian 2011 Covers:




In the battle of New York athletes: Mark Sanchez’s September GQ brought in 175,000 sales over Derek Jeter’s April issue, which had 142,000 (J-E-T-S! Jets Jets Jets!).

GQ 2011 Covers:


And then there were the performers who had an up-and-down year: Gwyneth Paltrow was Elle’s best and Self’s second best, but her Bon Appétit cover in June and her January InStyle cover both sold below average for the monthlies.

Gwyneth Paltrow 2011 Covers:



Emma Stone’s July Elle cover was the monthly’s worst performer and her Vanity Fair cover was its third worst, but she scored with Teen Vogue (second best) Glamour and W.

Emma Stone 2011 Covers:




Olivia Wilde scored big with Women’s Health (its best), Allure (its second best) and Cosmo (third best), but not Marie Claire (below average) and Glamour (its third worst).

Olivia Wilde 2011 Covers:





And finally: What about Lady Gaga? Last year, Gaga was the absolute star of the newsstand. This year? She finally showed some chink in her armor. And why? She wasn’t in costume. Her October Harper’s Bazaar, which featured a Gaga close-up without any makeup, sold only 119,000 copies, its third worst seller of the year.

But when Gaga got all dolled up, she worked: Her March Vogue cover was its second best seller of the year and her May Harper’s Bazaar cover did far better than its autumn counterpart: It sold 159,000 copies, its third best of the year.

Lady Gaga 2011 Covers:



Last year, Jessica Simpson went without makeup for Marie Claire and it was one of its biggest bombs of the year.

Jessica Simpson's Make-up Free Cover:


So, Graydon, take comfort in your January 2012 cover with Gaga. She’s dressed up just fine. (I took the liberty of including the January VF cover with Lady Gaga shot by Annie Leibovitz below for your enjoyment)