US Vogue March 2009 : Michelle Obama by Annie Leibovitz

[KKnardi]

great cover, it's simple and will sell well like somebody before me said. her face is a bit weird but otherwise very satisfying cover.

 

[Bahiyya]

I don't have any problems with Michelle, she's great. my problem is Annie Leibovitz she is such an overrated photographer imo!

Please, someone shoot the camera out of this woman (or her assitants') hands and put her out to pasture. She got Michelle Obama as a Vogue cover subject and turned it into a bloody photoshop collage! Is it just me or does Michelle's head not look tacked on to her body from a different shot stuck on to some generica glamour studio background.

I should start a stupid, futile online petition to release some of my ire. Sometimes her portraits are exceptional but her COVERS...at least she didn't put her on a step ladder with a frackin' sheet draped on a blackboard in the background .

Stop Annie Now!

An yes, MarryMeTomFord, you're quite correct, if Michelle was white I...why I...I can't even type the very thought fills me with so much rage, feelings of "unsupport" and judgement.

 

[liberty33r1b]

the dress is by far the most exciting part of this cover, her face looks (again) so strange...however, all the outfit choices are also soo predictable, i mean we all have seen here in a purple, or black dress with flats before. i just wish they had gone for something fresher and newer, something we haven't seen her wearing before (like light blue, or grey.....)

 

[nyc_art_style]

she's so beautiful and classy. It's so nice to see a woman like this in modern day society.

 

[aristobrat]

I'm really looking forward to this!

And to Luxx: I completely agree with all you said in #109.

 

[waxy]

the cover was almost perfect... her hand gestures even looked exceptionally regal... BUT sadly... the face expression ruined it.

no offense meant. it's a beautiful cover still.

 

[rh85]

Please, someone shoot the camera out of this woman (or her assitants') hands and put her out to pasture. She got Michelle Obama as a Vogue cover subject and turned it into a bloody photoshop collage! Is it just me or does Michelle's head not look tacked on to her body from a different shot stuck on to some generica glamour studio background.

Stop Annie Now!

are you serious? after Richard Avedon she's the greatest celebrity portraitist of all time, not my opinion or personal taste, it's a fact.

 

[Mchunu]

^that is definitely NOT a fact. and these photos on this page prove it.
i don't think anyone is saying Annie is an awful photographer, but good god has her work grown to be sub-par.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^^I disagree i think it is a fact, specially by now, she is the best celeb portraist of our time, just look at her body of work, so i agree with rh85, dont get all the Leibovitz hate in this thread.When she shots for Vogue its not 100% her say.

I love the fact that Michelle wore her own clothes and wasnt styled by Vogue.

 

[eternitygoddess]

What a sh*tty editorial.

This should've been an ICONIC shoot.

Repeat: ICONIC.

If I ever get my photoshoot in Vogue, I will not be using Annie Leibovitz.

 

[mikel]

Not an ugly cover at all, but far for from special or iconic. It's stiff as I expected. At least the cover is not cluttered with many coverlines.

 

[Mchunu]

^^I disagree i think it is a fact, specially by now, she is the best celeb portraist of our time, just look at her body of work, so i agree with rh85, dont get all the Leibovitz hate in this thread.When she shots for Vogue its not 100% her say.

I love the fact that Michelle wore her own clothes and wasnt styled by Vogue.

sorry but i just guess we'll have to agree to disagree

Like i said,i don't hate her but if she's the best celeb portraiture of time that says a lot about the celeb portraiture of today. (and not in a good way, IMO) i know that she is hailed as being the best but if she truly is how could this be the result? Even if it's not her say whether or not she shoots the cover these shots could have been a milestone in American Vogue history and to think they will still be simply because it was shot by Annie and Michelle was the subject is just outrageous.

 

[Bahiyya]

are you serious? after Richard Avedon she's the greatest celebrity portraitist of all time, not my opinion or personal taste, it's a fact.

Will I find that stated in the encyclopaedia ? Maybe a dictionary. Since such matters of art have now left the realm of opinion consensus and taste to become "fact".

I have nothing against her early work, you know, back when she wasn't just about making people look good. I still think she has it in her to do great portraits...that appear within a magazine. But her covers for Vogue and Vanity Fair, since I started paying attention to them in the early 2000s, have been atrocious, polished, lifeless, photoshopped wonders for the most part. And her edits these days are very hit and miss (with a higher rating for Vanity Fair).

But hey! Just send me to the right page on the Britannica website -- Annie Liebovitz Greatest Celebrity Portraitist of All Time: Fact -- and I'll acquiesce. (Don't worry about whether or not it's behind a pay wall, my university has a subscription.) Until then I'll go back to deciding which crappy petition site is worthy enough for my career-destroying ambitions.

 

[kimair]

wow. somehow i am coming off as an anti-feminist :-O
Lets put it this way - if the Obamas were white, would everyone still be so supportive and non-judgemental of them? i dont think Vogue is racist since they put any and every first lady on their cover. heck, they put ANYONE on their covers....Melania Trump?? Now SHE'S the definition of a trophy wife!

there has only been two first ladies on the cover of vogue...hilary clinton and michelle obama...

andre leon talley was on the today show this morning talking about the cover and michelle...

NEW YORK - It's official: Michelle Obama is the first lady of American fashion, appearing on the cover of the March issue of Vogue.

Every first lady since Lou Hoover — save Bess Truman — has been photographed for the high-fashion magazine. Mrs. Obama appears wearing a magenta silk sheath dress by Jason Wu, who also designed her inaugural gown.

Vogue's editor at large Andre Leon Talley called his interviews with Mrs. Obama ahead of President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony "one of the best experiences of my life."
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"She's so accessible, natural and normal. There's nothing affected about her."

Much of the eight-page feature inside is devoted to Mrs. Obama's self-described role as "mom in chief" to 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha.

"I'm going to try to take them to school every morning, as much as I can," she said. "But there's also a measure of independence. And obviously there will be times I won't be able to drop them off at all. I like to be a presence in my kids' school. I want to know the teachers; I want to know the other parents."

Being Vogue, though, the conversation eventually turns to clothes.

Mrs. Obama said she is aware of how her wardrobe is being scrutinized, but she makes no apologies for her choices — even the Election Night combination of ripped-from-the-runway, fashion-forward dress and plain-Jane cardigan.

"I'm not going to pretend that I don't care about it," she said. "But I also have to be very practical. In the end, someone will always not like what you wear — people just have different tastes."

She did choose outfits for the Vogue photos by labels she has worn before: Wu, who made her inaugural gown; Narcisco Rodriguez, the designer of that Election Night dress; and J. Crew, which she and her children have famously worn.

Most cover models have their clothes chosen for them by Vogue, or at least editors work as advisers. Not this time.

"She doesn't need any help. She loves fashion and knows what works for her," Talley said. "She's never had a conversation with me about, `What do you think?' or `How did this look? And I'm glad for that."

msnbc.com

 

[BerlinRocks]

could someone please post the previous 1st lady covers ? i have no idea what they look like ....

their article about powerful ladies seems boring !!!!! well at least the names they've chosen for their cover .... carla is boring me (well i'm french ... so i hear about her very often !!!), queen of jordania is there forever (why not chosen someone else from arabian countries ? like cheika moza - "queen" of qatar) ..............

 

[KKnardi]

She did choose outfits for the Vogue photos by labels she has worn before: Wu, who made her inaugural gown; Narcisco Rodriguez, the designer of that Election Night dress; and J. Crew, which she and her children have famously worn.

Most cover models have their clothes chosen for them by Vogue, or at least editors work as advisers. Not this time.

she is so powerful that she choose the clothes she want to wear in vogue? oh my god...

 

[Mchunu]

^yea, i kinda thought that too. lawl!

 

[dior_couture1245]

I actually think it's very fitting she chose the clothes herself...I mean, that's what she's famous for...she doesn't have a stylist, it's all her! Thank you Vogue for letting her dress herself.

 

[_rumc_]

The cover is not bad, but I think it could have been better, it's just... regular. And her grimace doesn't help. But I'm still happy she got the cover. The contents look interesting... especially Queen Rania

 

[rh85]

^^I disagree i think it is a fact, specially by now, she is the best celeb portraist of our time, just look at her body of work, so i agree with rh85, dont get all the Leibovitz hate in this thread.When she shots for Vogue its not 100% her say.

that's right, she's the ultimate, and I'm not even her fan, I've just learned to respect her.

^^Will I find that stated in the encyclopaedia

? Maybe a dictionary. Since such matters of art have now left the realm of opinion consensus and taste to become "fact".

nope baby , you don't need a dictionary, just learning a little more about photography.