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Charlotte O'Sullivan's rating
Candid camera
By
Charlotte O'Sullivan
14 Feb 2008
Annie Leibovitz is a royal photographer. She infamously took pictures of the Queen last year. She also makes Hollywood's elite look born to rule, usually in the pages of Vanity Fair or Vogue.
This documentary, shot by her sister, Barbara, explains why A-list stars want to work with her, but also delves into the (much more interesting) stuff she used to get up to.
Even as a nipper, the Connecticut-born Leibovitz looked like a cross between Barbra Streisand and Joey Ramone.
While working for Rolling Stone magazine, she took drugs so she could melt into the background with rock stars and keep up with mentor Hunter S Thompson.
Then, apparently overnight, she cleaned up her act, met and fell in love with the intellectual Susan Sontag and, in her fifties, had three children.
It's quite a trajectory but - though she cries while discussing Sontag's death in 2004 - Leibovitz doesn't exactly open up.
Even when it comes to discussing iconic photos such as the one she took of John Lennon and Yoko in bed - hours before his death - she's stays shtum.
The director has found a life worth shedding light on. It's just a shame that her lens isn't as probing as Annie's.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
