Every photographer has their own style and working methods. Some are in your face and have little to no ethics, while others prefer to blend into the background and are exceedingly conscious of their subject and the circumstances surrounding them. Some photograph regular people or celebrities, and some decide that war is of more interest to them. Annie Leibovitz and James Natchwey are both photographers, yet they are both very different from each other.
Leibovitz started her long affair with her camera at a young age. She would snap pictures of those she saw around her and eventually approached The Rolling Stone magazine to photograph for them. She likes to get to know her subject, almost to become one with them. Leibovitz does as her subject does, whether it is partying with The Rolling Stones or having a conversation with a fellow photographer. Now a photographer for Vanity Fair, she sets up shots with A-list celebrities. She has a flair for controversy, such as capturing a very pregnant and very naked Demi Moore on the cover of a magazine, or putting Whoopi Goldberg in a tub of milk to act as a metaphor of breaking through a predominately white entertainment world. She captures a moment of a person and does not back down.
Vanity Fair cover August 1991 borrowed from: http://blog.arting365.com/space.php?uid=399046&do=blog&id=273490
Natchwey, on the other hand is exceptionally different than Leibovitz. He risks his life to capture the truth about war and poverty across the globe. Natchwey, whether he is being shot at or tear gassed, puts himself in the thick of the action when others would back away. Though it may seem at first that he is intruding, he in fact is being very cautious of his subjects’ feelings and spends an extensive amount of time getting to know his subjects as to be accepted by them. He captures grieving, war, and poverty with an extreme amount of sensitivity. Whether his assignment is to capture the devastation of war in Kosovo or the poverty in Indonesia, he takes care and time to capture his subject as closely as possible.
Kosovo, 1999- Imprint of a man killed by Serbs borrowed from: http://www.jamesnachtwey.com/
While in different fields, they both take time and put forth the effort to really get to know their subject. This results in a very true to life depiction of their subjects. Each photographer refuses to shy away from controversy and embraces the moment taken in the photograph whether happy or horrid.
Yes, these two photographers are very different, but I would like to read about their similarities as well, and how we as visual anthropologists can learn from their methodologies.
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