28 March 2008

Should Annie Leibovitz Be Taken To Task?

I know I posted on this a few days ago, but I'm still kind of stunned by it. It would take a great stretch of the imagination to believe that brilliant photographer Annie Leibovitz's could produce such an offensive photo in a strange fluke.

People had been comparing the cover to King Kong, but look at it next to this old racist propaganda. Look at the savage brutalizing the lily-white damsel. "Destroy This Mad Brute"?? My God, Leibovitz. I want an explanation.

Source

7 comments:

Unknown said...

If by "racist propaganda" you mean anti-German, then you might be onto something.

About Me said...

You don't find it racist to call a people group "brutes"?

V said...

I think calling the Germans "brutes" was in reference to their war crimes, so of course it was designed to be offensive - just not racist.

Actually, I don't think Leibovitz modeled her picture after an ad or any King Kong references. Maybe she was going for a juxtaposition between strength and vitality versus delicate beauty, and that's artistic in itself. I don't think she necessarily had an agenda.

Unknown said...

I definitely don't think Leibovitz intended anything offensive. I can see why the side by side seems that way, but I think it is coincidental. Actually, I think her work is usually pretty open-minded in terms of racial constructs...she used Beyonce Knowles to play Alice in Wonderland in her recent work for Disney.

Anonymous said...

The photo is blah..Giselle looks ordinary,all the emphasis is on the guy. He looks like the supermodel in it and that's funny because she needs to sell the dress not him.

WendyB said...

I kind of feel it's coincidental. From what people say about Leibovitz, I doubt she'd bother to get off her ass and do any research into old images.

Anonymous said...

No.. That is WAY too similar, from the open mouth to the silky dress.

Perhaps Leibovitz didn't know but I wouldn't be surprised if a photographer knew about old pictures.

It's quite shocking.

When I saw the cover firsthand, it looked fine but in comparison to the old picture, there's too much similarity :-O