Photo by Toni Cenicola
Annie Leibovitz is apparently in trouble...she may possibly lose her homes and the rights to her works. She was recently sued on July 29th for nonpayment of a $24 million dollar loan. Ms. Leibovitz took out the loan last year and used her homes, negatives, and the rights to her photographs as collateral.
All news reports that I have read have no comments from Ms. Leibovitz herself, so I do not have her side of the story to state here. Many do not seem terribly surprised that she got herself into such a financial state of affairs, because, Annie has spent notoriously large amounts of money on incredibly extravagant photo shoots. Adding more coals to the fire is the terrible losses she has experienced in recent years, including the deaths of both her father and partner Susan Sontag within months of each other in 2005.
As a result of her financial problems, Ms. Leiboveitz may loose the reproduction rights of her photography which she has guarded very closely over the years, as well as the negatives to many of her most legendary works. She is probably best known for her work with Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and advertising campaigns for American Express, Gap, the Milk Board, and most recently Louis Vuitton.
For links to some of her most famous works, such as Demi Moore pregnant, Whoopi Goldberg in a tub of milk, and John Lennon with Yoko Ono, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Leibovitz
May inspiration and creativity be with you!
