Contrasting Photographers: Annie Leibovitz and James Nachtwey

Annie Leibovitz and James Nachtwey are both renowned photographers. However, their works, life, and photography techniques are quite contrasting.

(Photo by Patrick McMullan; From ARTINFO)

Leibovitz tends to focus on faces of people so the face of her main subject must always be clear and prominent while the background/setting, unless it is intentional, usually is only there to set the mood or the scene but otherwise do not play a major part in the photo. Take this picture for example:

(From Avi Abrams photostream)

The city lights background and costumes set the time while the rainy weather sets the mood, but the main focus is still the people in the picture: the murder, the victim, and the photographer. Their faces are visible.
Even in portrait pictures, the background is either simple or ambiguous because the main focus is still the person, and Leibovitz does a great job of showing it.

(From New York Times)

This is a picture of the mountain biker Missy Giove. The background is blurry due to motion blurs but Missy's face is visible--showing a rich expression of the vigorous activity. I find that only in portrait pictures is where the person's expression is natural.
When Leibovitz is not doing a portrait shot, then she is working with celebrities for advertisement, the media, or for promotional purposes--thus, their expression is posed in accordance to the theme of the shoot. According to Leibovitz's friends from teh film, "[Leibovitz] is the most authoratative person" behind the camera, and possibly part of her personality as well, so she can achieved the result she desired.James Nachtwey's work, on the other hand, is opposite.

(From Camerabuff)

Majority of Nachtwey's shots are in black and white while the colored ones still are not as colorful as Leibovitz's pieces, but is not any less profound. Since he is a war photographer, all the pictures he takes are natural, of war victims in a natural setting so the audience can feel "people's authentic emotion" and see the "powerful indictment of war." Also unlike Leibovitz, Nachtwey prefers to capture the raw expressions from victims of war to voice their suffering and bring his photos to life despite the grave atmosphere and the black/white background. Here is a picture of the people in Indonesia rejoicing at the resignation of Suharto, 1998.

(From James Nachtwey)

The photo may be plain black and white but the intense joy display on people's faces is overflowing the image. Aside from capturing war victims, he also takes picture of the environment during and after the war to make his point that war creates unlivable conditions like the picture of ruins in Afghanistan:

(Ruins of Kabul from civil war in 1996; from James Nachtwey)

Despite how contrasting they works by Leibovitz and Nachtwey are, they do have a couple of things in common, such as tips for us young visual anthropologists to learn. During field work, both of them blends in with the people they photographed by diving in and become part of the community so that eventually the camera becomes invisible--producing more natural pictures. As Leibovitz had said in the film, "best photography is what's around me...you're part of it" and a photographer should experiment with everything and get involved because "a lot can be told in the in between moments." Nachtwey also does the same thing. He approach people respectfully and get involved in the situation. Whether you are out there filling the canvas with memories or recording history, you must "be part of it to understand it" (James Nachtwey from the film).

A Comedic Mixologist

If someone were to walk down the narrow street near the east gate of Kansai Gaidai, they will find many small karaoke bars and traditional Japanese restaurants. But a student doesn’t need to walk far to find a cheap yet delicious Japanese food bar—there is one right across from the east gate. The owner is a “master of comedy” (stated by his frequent customer) and a very talented mixologist. He serves variety of drinks, from non-alcoholic drinks such as Calpis to strong alcohol mixture such “Abu-gin-sky” and “Knock out,” but my favorite drink is his newest creation called “Lovers in snow.”

I explained about this portrait project and immediately he gives me a peace sign pose.

But since he has been mixing drinks for at least 15 years, I asked to take a picture of him making my “Lover in snow” and he was happy to show me even though he went through it very fast and my camera is horrible taking inside picture with clarity. I still choose to post this picture because he has an excited and happy expression as if mixing exotic drinks is his life purpose. The blurs further enhance the picture in the fact that it catches him in motion as he dances with his creation in joy.

Aside from being humorous, this barkeeper is very knowledgeable or at least he was willing to learn what visual anthropology is and what they do. He becomes surprised but very intrigue in this odd profession. I explained about blogging in the world of net and asked if he knows about it but he laughs and replies, “No. No. That’s for young people. I’m old.”

Before leaving I ask for one last picture. Probably due to years of making drinks after drinks, I noticed he likes to use his hands a lot because claps his hands together and exclaimed: “Olé!”

Only after arriving home I realized I never gotten his name….