Annie Leibovitz on Instagram and Getting the Perfect Shot

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Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz and branding expert Pascal Dangin visited Stanford earlier this month for the second installment of the Stanford Arts Institute fashion conversation series, hosted by Cathy Horyn, the fashion critic of The New York Times. Each brought varying opinions to the table. Dangin blamed smartphones and the photo-saturated tech platforms like Instagram and Snapchat for the "seven-minute life span of an image in the realm of consciousness." On the other hand, Leibovitz said, "It's very exciting that everyone has that accessibility—there's room for both [professionals and amateurs]."

Regardless of where one stands on the issues, the true takeaway from the evening was Leibovitz's underlying tenacity that has driven her career, which spans four decades of in-demand work. She described an experience shooting poet Robert Penn Warren around his home. By the end, she knew she didn't have the shot, so she went back to try again. "If there's one thing I do, I'm never afraid to go back," she said. This may go against the intrinsic, instant use of the aforementioned apps, but it's certainly one of those quotes to always keep in mind.
· Fashion at Stanford: Annie Leibovitz, Pascal Dangin, & Cathy Horyn, 1/9/2014 [Stanford Arts Institute]
· Annie Leibovitz, Pascal Dangin talk Instagram, image-making, at Stanford [The San Francisco Chronicle]