One of the world’s pre-eminent portrait photographers, Annie Leibovitz, is showing the continuation of her famed photoseries “Women” in Hong Kong this June.
Launched in London this January, “WOMEN: New Portraits” is coming to Hong Kong as part of a 10-city global tour, featuring photographs of Hillary Clinton, Serena Williams, Malala Yousafzai, Sheryl Sandberg, and Gloria Steinem.
Leibovitz began her career as a photojournalist for Rolling Stone magazine, where she quickly made her way up the ladder as the magazine’s chief photographer in just two years. She has been credited with producing some of Rolling Stone’s most iconic photographs, like the January 1981 cover photo of a disrobed John Lennon clasping onto his wife, Yoko Ono, which was taken mere hours before his death.
Annie Leibovitz, New York City, 2012 © Annie Leibovitz from WOMEN: New Portraits
Her 1999 photo book “Women” was a collaboration with her late partner and well-known feminist writer Susan Sontag, who described it as a “work in progress”.
Commissioned by financial firm UBS, Leibovitz’s long-awaited “progression” of the acclaimed series features portraits of inspiring women from all walks of life: not just prominent wildlife conservationists or athletes like Jane Goodall and Misty Copeland, but also underappreciated women working as coal miners, schoolteachers, and sex workers.
Leibovitz admitted to modelling the series after the work of August Sander – a German portrait photographer known for capturing people of all social classes – and highlighted the importance of diversity in an interview with Fortune.
In addition to seeing the exhibition, visitors will also have the chance to attend free workshops led by photography and fine arts students, with family-friendly workshops running on weekends. UBS will also be holding an event in Hong Kong addressing representation of women in local media.
Furthermore, us mere mortals have a chance to win a trip for two to attend the exhibition’s launch in New York this November. To apply, entrants can upload photos of “inspiring women” in their lives with an explanatory caption either to Instagram with the hashtag #ShareYourHero, or to UBS’ digital gallery.
When: 10am to 6pm (last admission 5pm) every day from June 3 to June 26, with extended hours on Fridays (10am to 8pm, last admission 7pm)
Where: 3/F Cheung Hing Industrial Building, 12P Smithfield, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong (Google Maps)
Price: Free
More Info: Workshops
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