Women

The career of photographer Leibovitz (Wonderland) is celebrated with this dazzling collection of portraits she took of women in the 20th and 21st century. The book contains two volumes; the first was originally published in 1999 with an introduction from Susan Sontag, and features shots of big names like Natalie Portman, Gloria Steinem, and Eudora Welty alongside a host of ordinary women. It's also preoccupied with contrast--see the brilliant, full-color photos of Las Vegas showgirls decked out in rhinestones alongside soft black-and-white shots of the same subjects in modest attire--and with overtly confronting stereotypes (a woman in army fatigues with a gun across her lap, a female rabbinical student wearing a tallit). The second book--introduced by Gloria Steinem and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie--features photos taken from 1993 to the present and seems less concerned with resolving dichotomies than allowing the women to stand on their own; Michelle Obama poses in a crop top and jeans, while photojournalist Lynsey Addario reclines on a sofa. Despite a few minor drawbacks--the brief captions provide only subject names and location, leaving out technical details and dates--both volumes reflect Leibovitz's gift of revealing unexpected sides of her subjects. Taken together, the two halves of this work illuminate how women's roles and opportunities have evolved across time--and the ways they've stayed the same. Leibovitz fans will be eager to add this to their bookshelves. (Nov.)

Homage to an iconic portraitist. In a lavish celebration of photographer Annie Leibovitz, Phaidon has republished her 1999 volume of women's portraits, with an introduction by Sontag, along with a second volume of recent portraits, with essays by Steinem and Adichie. Totaling 250 in all, the portraits, as Sontag writes, stand as "an anthology of destinies and disabilities and new possibilities." Reflecting Leibovitz's reputation as celebrity portraitist, Volume 1 is aptly star-studded, featuring Drew Barrymore, Patti Smith, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Yoko Ono, Serena and Vanessa Williams, Katharine Graham, and Martha Stewart, among many others. But Leibovitz also focuses her lens on women out of the limelight: a mountain biker and sewing machine operator, a waitress and two battered victims of domestic violence. "The ensemble says: So this is what women are now," Sontag writes. "One of the tasks of photography is to disclose, and shape our sense of, the variety of the world. It is not to present ideals." Steinem reiterates that message, adding that "Annie's images demanded that women be seen" in all their variety and as a "proud reflection" of "feminist rebellion, self-respect, visibility and humanity." Each essayist asserts that beyond their impressive artistry, the portraits convey an important message about beauty, power, and agency: "Any book of photographs of women," Adichie writes, "simply by existing, has taken a political position about the value of women's stories." Volume 2 is replete with images of actors and activists, politicians and writers, musicians and scientists, young and old, among them Kara Walker, Michelle Obama, Greta Thumberg, Joan Baez, and Kim Kardashian. Each volume contains thumbnail biographies of the women portrayed; what is lacking, however, is the date the photograph was taken, which would be helpful information. An opulent coffee-table tribute. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.