Annie Leibovitz Patti Smith

Annie Leibovitz is arguably one of the best-known photographers in the world. 

Few photographers are household names. Even fewer can claim that the portraits they create are often as famous as the subjects they depict. Leibovitz (b. 1949) qualifies on both counts.

Leibovitz has provided the public with views of movie stars, politicians, athletes, artists — you name it. Being shot by Leibovitz has been a rite of passage for celebrities of every stripe for decades: You’re not really famous until you’ve sat for her. Graydon Carter, the longtime editor in chief of Vanity Fair, where Leibovitz has been on staff since 1983, compares her to both Frans Hals, a Dutch master of the formal portrait, and Jane Austen, a knowing chronicler of her epoch.

Although she’s technically inched past the age of retirement, Leibovitz shows no signs of slowing down — the whole world remembers the buzz over the gorgeous, groundbreaking photos she took of Caitlyn Jenner for the cover of Vanity Fair, but the hubbub surrounding the Jenner images was nothing new for the acclaimed photographer. 

Throughout her career, Leibovitz has created portraits that generate cultural conversation, whether outraged, admiring, shocked or some amalgam of all three. In celebration of Leibovitz’s incomparable work ethic, shop some of her most revered photography here on 1stDibs.