...out of Boredom, Paralysis and Anger.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Annie Leibovitz: Lennon + Ono


I accidentaly ran into a documentary about photographer Annie Leibovitz. 

I thought I should share.




Regarding this picture,Wikipedia states :
On December 8, 1980, Leibovitz had a photo shoot with John Lennon for Rolling Stone, promising him that he would make the cover.[6] She had initially tried to get a picture with just Lennon alone, which is what Rolling Stone wanted, but Lennon insisted that both he and Yoko Ono be on the cover. Leibovitz then tried to re-create something like the kissing scene from the Double Fantasy album cover, a picture that she loved. She had John remove his clothes and curl up next to Yoko. Leibovitz recalls, "What is interesting is she said she'd take her top off and I said, 'Leave everything on' — not really preconceiving the picture at all. Then he curled up next to her and it was very, very strong. You couldn't help but feel that she was cold and he looked like he was clinging on to her. I think it was amazing to look at the first Polaroid and they were both very excited. John said, 'You've captured our relationship exactly. Promise me it'll be on the cover.' I looked him in the eye and we shook on it."[7] Leibovitz was the last person to professionally photograph Lennon—he was shot and killed five hours later.[8]



Disturbing composition, amazing picture. Lennon is hugging Yoko Ono in 
an almost asphyxiating and possesive way. At the same time, however, he is portrayed 
naked thus conveying the idea of frailty or the need of emotional shelter. The contrast is strenghen 
by the woman's behaviour: she seems unperturbed by her role of love spring, from which 
the man methaphorically draws through a kiss. The overall result is a redefinition of roles by 
means of smudging the edges between masculine and feminine. 
My modest point of view.