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Annie Leibovitz is under fire once again, days after being criticized for the Coco Gauff shoot, after some people brought up other pictures of Black celebrities the photographer had clicked. Some detractors accused the photographer of not knowing how to take pictures of Black women.
The world no. 3 in tennis, Coco Gauff, recently featured on the April cover of Vogue, shot by Leibovitz. While it was a big moment for the athlete, the cover has been heavily criticized on the internet, especially by Black people, for not showing the athlete at her best.
Annie Leibovitz is a renowned American photographer known for her iconic portraits and documentary-style photography. Her distinctive style often incorporates dramatic lighting and bold compositions. Leibovitz has photographed numerous celebrities and public figures, including John Lennon, Queen Elizabeth II, and Barack Obama. But lately, netizens have been noting an alleged pattern in her photographs of Black celebrities.
Annie Leibovitz has been repeatedly criticized for her shoots featuring Black women
In a recent Reddit post, shortly after the Vogue cover was released, several netizens discussed the many other shoots done by the veteran photographer that feature Black people. They included celebrities from all walks of life, actors, athletes, and even an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Among the people being discussed were Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o, Simone Biles, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Coco Gauff herself.
In a lengthy ongoing discussion, many criticized Annie Leibovitz for having a particular style, only when it comes to shooting Black women, which involves having a “dark and muddy look” and a grayish skin tone.
Some others pointed out how the picturization of all of the shots is an attempt to invoke the “strong black woman stereotype,” often accompanied by “bland and uninspired backdrops.” They claimed that in an allegedly racist attempt to “empower” the Black woman, Leibovitz ends up making all of them look “masculine” and "tired.”
This, in particular, is a stark contrast to Annie Leibovitz's work featuring non-Black celebrities. Commenters claimed that there is a whimsy, dreamlike atmosphere in many of her shoots involving white celebrities, which has been noted as missing when it comes to Black women.
Many were shocked and critical of the fact that Annie Leibovitz keeps getting multiple opportunities to shoot Black celebrities when she always has similar results. However, some people claimed that it is not just Black women, but that Leibovitz has failed to make anyone look good in most of her latest projects.
This is not the first time the photographer has faced criticism for the same thing. In 2022, after Leiboviz photographed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for Vogue Magazine, many criticized the photographer for allegedly failing to use proper lighting, with many calling it her “worst lit shot.”
She was called out for a 2020 photoshoot featuring gymnast Simone Biles, a photoshoot that some critics called “degrading.”
Annie Leibovitz, who gained fame as the chief photographer for Rolling Stone magazine and later as a contributing photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue, is considered one of the most influential photographers of our time. However, it appears her seeming lack of judgment when it comes to photographing Black women is repeatedly opening her up to criticism.
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