Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair
Along with the rest of the world, I’ve been watching the transformation of Olympic gold medal decathlon winner Bruce Jenner into ultra-femme Caitlyn Jenner, culminating in Annie Leibovitz’s Vanity Fair cover portrait. Having worked with Leibovitz years ago I know that, beyond the 10-hours of facial-feminization surgery, Caitlyn has been styled to-the-hilt by makeup, hair and wardrobe artists, carefully-lit and posed, and the images ultimately airbrushed.
Despite all the artifice, the undeniable back story behind the image is compelling: (more…)