Leibovitz's photo book zooms in on women

Volume 2 comes out 25 years later with 100 images from legendary photographer.

- BY MEREDITH MARAN

ANNIE Leibovitz told a Wiltern crowd the book was writer Susan Sontag's idea.

(DEBI DEL GRANDE)

Annie Leibovitz strides onto the Wiltern stage to the thunderous cheers of 1,500 mostly female fans. She takes her place at the podium, a small, casually dressed figure on a big stage.

On the screen behind her are images of the matching covers of her new two-book set, “Annie Leibovitz: Women.”

Volume 1 is her 1999 collection. Volume 2 has 100 new photos captured in the 25 years since. Taken together, the slipcased set zooms in on the past quarter century of American womankind, rendered in 250 images of dancers, actors, astronauts, artists, politicians, farmers, writers, CEOs, philanthropists, soldiers, musicians, athletes, socialites and scientists.

“The book was Susan's idea,” Leibovitz says recently, referring to writer Susan Sontag, her partner until Sontag’s death in 2004. “I thought doing a photo book about women was a bad idea, like going out and photographing the ocean. But then I heard what Hillary Clinton said at the U.N. Conference on Women in 1995 — ‘Women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights’ — and I reconsidered.” Applause shakes the Wiltern rafters.

An image from Volume 2 appears, featuring a somber-looking Sontag.

"This is the last formal portrait of Susan," Leibovitz says. "You could think she's projecting a sense strength, but really, she was mad at me for making her go outside to take the picture." The crowd roars with laughter.

Think of Leibovitz, and some legendary photographs spring to mind.

Whoopi Goldberg submerged in a milk-filled bathtub on the cover of Vanity Fair, July 1984. Also on VF covers: Michael Jackson, fittingly clothed and shot in black-and-white, in 1989.