The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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  • Christian Giggenbach

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March 21, 2008

Renowned photographer visits Beckley with Obama

By Christian Giggenbach

Her legendary images of celebrities have graced magazine covers for the last 35 years, and the depth of her work has made her the most famous photographer of our time.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Rolling Stone. A pregnant Demi Moore in Vanity Fair. Dolly Parton with a flexing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the background.

Even the Queen of England wanted her photograph taken by Annie Leibovitz.

On Thursday, Leibovitz was in town adding Barack Obama’s presidential stop at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center to her portfolio.

“This is only my second day on the campaign trail with Obama, and I’ve gone on the road to do a set of pictures for Men’s Vogue magazine,” the 58-year-old Leibovitz said.

Leibovitz has been photographing presidential candidates since 1972 and has already shot images of Obama for Vanity Fair and a previous Men’s Vogue edition.

“I’ve been very lucky to be able to travel on the bus and be part of the press corps which is following the campaign,” said Leibovitz, who has published five photo books, has a Grammy and also received the Library of Congress Living Legend award in 2000. “It’s a very historical campaign.”

Last year, Leibovitz was asked by Queen Elizabeth II to take the queen’s official picture for her state visit to Washington.

Her first exposure to the mountains of southern West Virginia left her with some indelible memories, she said, but some were not the kind that are recorded for prosperity’s sake.

“The area is visually remarkable, and during the drive down from Charleston, I wish I could have pulled over the bus and stopped about 50 times,” she said.

And what does a world-famous photographer look for while shooting an event like the one held Thursday in Beckley?

“Well, when you walk into this venue, it definitely strikes you that this is a big circle and I’m interested in that,” she said. “But you want to look for the faces on people and also capture how emotional people are at these events. It’s exciting to photograph.”

— E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com

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