Annie Leibowitz is an American photographer who is most famous for her portraits of people. She has worked for several magazines, such as Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, but has also had a lot of other assignments. For example, she took the Obama family portrait and also works with photographs for advertisements.
James Nachtwey is an American war photographer who has covered events in Rwanda, Bosnia and Indonesia as well as many other places. He has also received numerous awards for his work and for his photographs.
One of the obvious differences between the two is the fact that while Leibowitz can plan, direct, and experiment with her photographs, Nachtwey only has the possibility to get out there, and try to capture as much as possible in the best way possible. Most of the time there won't be any possibility for re-shots in Nachtwey's work. While Leibowitz most of the time will have nearly complete control over the situation, Nachtwey finds himself in situations where anything could happen at any time. There is also a major difference between the subjects of their photographs. While the ones being photographed by Leibowitz are there for the one reason of being photographed, the people Nachtwey is photographing are just doing what they are doing whether he would be present or not.
Leibowitz will also, at least to some extent, get to know the people she works with. Nachtwey, on the other hand, will in most cases find himself taking photographs among strangers who probably will not be working with him to the same extent as Leibowitz.
While Nachtwey is limited to using the equipment he can carry with him without being encumbered, Leibowitz has the possibility to experiment with different types of cameras and other equipment. However, she claims that she prefers portable equipment and that mobility is something very important to the way she photographs, so this could actually be seen as somewhat of a similarity.
Leibowitz also has some experience of photographing in situations similar to those of Nachtwey. For example, she has taken photos of anti-war protesters violently clashing with police in the US and she also went to Bosnia during the war to take photographs.
Other similarities are the fact that in order to take a good portrait, Leibowitz has to get to know the person she is portraying the same way that Nachtwey has to know about the situation he is covering, in order to know where to be and to know what is important to show.
Many the people photographed by Leibowitz state that the thing that makes her a great photographer is that she stays around and becomes a natural part of the surroundings, she will become such a natural part of their life that they don't even thinks about her being there. This gives her the opportunity to take very natural pictures that are close to the reality.
This is a very good example of how Leibowitz works in the background and how this result in very natural photographs.
In a similar way, Nachtwey becomes a part of the situations he is in. One of his colleagues states that "James Nachtwey is always in the middle of the situations and always a part of them." For example, a man in the Philippines was being followed and assaulted by a mob of political opponents. Nachtwey begged them several times to spare the mans life, but the mob proceeded and the man was killed. Several other photographers covered the same event but Nachtwey was the only one who was at the center of the event and the only one who at least tried to help the man. The colleague who told this story also defines Nachtwey as "up close and personal." The story is also an example of how Nachtwey is said to be one of few war photographers that will put his camera down to help people in need.
James Nachtwey - Up Close and Personal
Another similarity is the way in which they define themselves as good photographers. Leibowitz talks about how as a child, since her father was in the military, she spent a lot of time in the family's car as they moved around a lot. According to her, hours of seeing USA through the windows of the car made her view the world as frames or snapshots. In a similar way, Nachtwey talks about that the most important qualities of a photographer is knowledge and instincts, things that only can be acquired through experience.
The most important similarity is how they both talk about the importance of mutual understanding. Leibowitz says that if she has an idea for a portrait she will talk this through with the subject to find out how they feel about it, and see if they have other ideas and how they together can make the portrait as good as possible. People being photographed by her also agrees that she in some way gets you to want to work for her.
Nachtwey says that no good photographs can be taken without the complicity of the people in them. By this he means that if the people do not want to be photographed, they will not let him take the photographs. He also says that most people will understand that he can help them to show their story to the rest of the world and in that way make the world recognize the horrible things that has happened .
(Image originally found here)
A photo which probably could not have been taken without mutual understanding or without John and Yoko being willing to work together with Annie Leibowitz.
Could this image been taken unless the people in it agreeing to being photographed?
A difference can be that while Leibowitz's most important mission is to incorporate personal characteristics in the photos, the most important thing for Nachtwey is to make the photographs show emotion, show how bad things really are and why something needs to be done.
Given the kinds of photographs the two are taking one could easily think that Nachtwey's photographs can be considered more "truthful" than those of Leibowitz. But whether photographs are "truthful" or not is a very complex question.
The way Leibowitz incorporates the personalities of people, and the way she becomes almost as unapparent as a fly on the wall allows her to take photographs which can be seen as very close to the truth. Also, theoretically, war photographers such as Nachtwey could easily put things out of context and chose to only show certain things while ignoring other. So the following words of a reporter in the movie War Photographer is of great importance:
Your work defines the world's image of what is happening.
So you better do it right.
I think that something both photographers have in common with visual anthropologists is the opinion that mutual understanding and respect is very important when you are working with people and photography.
Nachtwey also talks about the importance of showing yourself and approach people with respect when you are photographing. Sometimes a "hello" and a handshake can be very helpful in our work.
Sources:
War Photographer (2001)
Annie Leibowitz: Life through a lens (2008)
