Portrait of An Artist: Annie Leibovitz.

And a hush came over the room. Yep, that's what happened as Annie entered the Legion of Honor's press preview gathering. Annie Leibovitz has a quiet presence, but you certainly feel it. As I posted last week, I was invited to the press tour of Annie Leibovitz's new exhibit Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005 at San Francisco's Legion of Honor, and as promised, here's a report of my extraordinary day. Once again, thank you so much to the Legion of Honor for this invitation and amazing opportunity.

San Francisco's Legion of Honor.

Surrounded by a throng of reporters.

Personal photographs; Annie chats with the crowd.
She says "Life is more interesting than having to make it up."

Lucky journalists, photojournalists and bloggers like myself, were given a walking tour with Annie Leibovitz around the exhibit and were treated to her candid, funny, sometimes serious and a little bit self-effacing dialogue about some of her most celebrated photographs. Annie Leibovitz has been documenting the faces of those who shape our lives over the last forty years, and captures those faces with unique perception and infinite love for the art of photography. Ms. Leibovitz was visibly moved to be back in San Francisco, where she actually began her career, as a student at San Francisco's Art Institute, not as a photographer, but as a painter. Perhaps her studies as a painter are what gives her eye such an interesting sense of balance and beautiful composition. While studying at the Art Institute, Annie also studied photography at night.

The White Stripes, 2003.

Moments captured for Vanity Fair & Vogue.

In 1970, graduated and quite broke, Annie was approached by Rolling Stone to shoot for their magazine, and 142 covers and ten years later, her talents as a photographer were as prolific as they were profound. From there she began shooting commercial advertising for the Gap, where she said she was very frightened by the idea of shooting with nothing but a seamless background and her subject. Doesn't it make y'all feel a bit better to know that she could ever feel any sense of fear at the task that lay before her? Annie most obviously overcame her fears, and in 1983 joined the staff of Vanity Fair magazine, and in 1998 began shooting extensively for Vogue.

Speaking about her women with AIDS portraits; and the artist wears tennis shoes!

Philip Johnson and his Glass House, 2000.

Annie's varied subjects. Some she admires, so she does not.

A common trait of Annie's when in contemplation -
running her hands through her hair; and Susan Sontag.

When asked about photographers she admired, Annie said she very much admired the photos by Alfred Stieglitz of Georgia O'Keefe, and the honest artistry of Diane Arbus. She said her own photos are often 'gushy' because she wants too much to like people. She said, "put me in a room with Nixon, and I'll think, well, he's a nice guy". She said she wanted to be able to shoot like Arbus, who shared with us photographs of people we didn't want to see, but she is too nice.

Two dynasties.

Annie; and her portrait of Eudora Welty, 1997.

Susan Sontag.

Annie with her favorite portrait of her mother -
the highlights in her mother's hair look to me like a crown;
Standing before her beautiful landscapes.

When asked which of her portraits was her favorite, Annie said it was that of her mother, unsmiling. Apparently her mum doesn't like to be photographed without a toothy grin on her face, but Annie insisted this one (above) be part of the collection, to both her mother and father's disapproval. Her mum was won over after attending the exhibit opening and being asked to sign her image for many admiring fans. Annie looks so proud, happy and relaxed here.

Candid snapshots of Annie and family.

Annie says her new, and deeply personal book, Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, 1990–2005, came from a place of grief, after the loss of her father, and her long time companion, Susan Sontag, who died in 2004 after a long battle with cancer. She said she is very proud of the book, but also had some misgivings about publishing such very personal photographs. The beautiful, and really heavy book (it's over 470 pages and weighs almost nine pounds!) contains not only her celebrated photographs, but personal snapshots of her life with Susan Sontag, her three children, family and friends. It's worth the weight. “I don’t have two lives,” Annie Leibovitz writes in the introduction to this collection. “This is one life, and the personal pictures and the assignment work are all part of it.”

Annie's family.

Working out the layout for the book on Annie's barn walls, as reconstructed for the exhibit.

Annie's beautiful landscapes.