Taschen has published a retrospective of the extraordinary work of photographer Annie Liebovitz and printed it together with some wonderful essays in one of their luxury giant books.
At the publishing house Taschen every now and then they add to their outstanding line of giant books, named "sumo-sized line". Their representatives like to joke that only a person as strong as a sumo wrestler can lift a book of this size. She also recently joined the club of giants photographer Annie Leibovitz, which received a great honor, as the label released a retrospective of her legendary work. Just looking at the book, which is huge, takes our breath away, and we can barely contain our loud exclamations while flipping through the pages. Annie's work is simply spectacular and breathtaking.
We recently featured her latest creation from her Disney character inspired photography collection, which is just a fraction of what can be seen in the giantess' latest book, simply named after the artist – “Annie Leibovitz”.
You can read the article about the collection of photos with Disney characters here.
In honor of Annie, a party was held on the occasion of the publication of the book, to which everyone who means something in the world of art and fashion was invited, the lucky ones who were the first to leaf through the wonderful collection 250 of the most beautiful photos, which the photographer created during her artistic career. It is an extraordinary life's work, 476 pages comprehensive retrospective, to which they also added a very special stand that resembles a tripod - mandatory equipment for every professional photographer - and makes it easier to turn the magnificent pages while viewing beautiful photos. The book weighs exactly 26 kilograms and it would be difficult to lift her in our arms.
It was printed in Germany and bound in Italy, because only the best in the profession participated in the creation of a high-quality work of art. A quality product combines the work that has been created with incredible love for forty long years. In addition to world-famous cult photographs that are immediately recognizable as Annie's work, the collection also includes some never-before-published works.
The book brings together more than five hundred portraits of famous celebrities and important cultural figures from the fields of film, music, television, literature, fashion, sports, politics, dance and theater. With its clarity, vibrancy and texture, with its beautiful colors and incredible composition, each powerful photo evokes a very special feeling, and most of the time we feel that the subjects will just jump out of the photo. The first thousand signed copies, representing the limited art edition ("Art Edition"), are bound in luxury leather. The remaining nine thousand copies, called the Collector's Edition, do not have the prestigious leather covers, but are decorated with the artist's handwritten signature and are available in four different book covers. We can choose from Annie's most famous portraits of world-famous celebrities. They are Whoopi Goldberg, David Byrne, Keith Haring and Patti Smith.
Inside, however, we encounter a colorful diversity, as we rarely come across a portrait of Richard Nixon and Lady Gaga in the same place. Even the photographs themselves vary from complete realism to completely stylized fantasy, photographs that were followed by extraordinary post-production after their creation. Without this diversity, it would be difficult to present the extraordinary artistic path that such a talented artist as Annie Liebovitz lived. Her unusual career is not only important because of her ever-new diverse achievements, but also because of her influence on wider society and popular culture.
Even the opening part is not like that, as it was written by the legendary actor and comedian Steve Martin, and in addition to the giant book, when you buy it, you also get a slightly smaller soft-bound manual, in which you can read essays written by other authors besides Annie Graydon Carter, Paul Roth and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Annie has also written some brief descriptions of all her subjects, and has been involved in the production itself, for there is nothing in the book and manual that her keen eye has not appraised and approved.
The photographer was courted by the publishing house for quite some time before finally agreeing, and in 2007 she finally said "yes". In 1984, a book of her photos was published by the same publishing house, which seems extremely modest compared to the giantess. However, both books are true works of art that will impress even the most demanding fan of exceptional photography books. Books that bring some wonderful and necessary art into our home. The magic that digital media simply cannot provide. At least that's what they believe at the publishing house, which swears by tradition and has been printing only the best of the best for several generations. At Taschen, they believe in the charm that a printed book offers. You can easily get lost in their art books and, at least for a while, think about the world outside the fantasy they conjure up. In the era of digitalization, it is important that there is still something that we can touch and feel under our fingers, smell the wonderful smell of freshly printed paper and see wonderful photos on paper in an extraordinary size that easily take over.
