Annie Leibovitz on the Democratization of Photography, Her Influences and Her Google Pixel Campaign

By Anna Purna Kambhampaty (Original source Time)

“Annie Leibovitz, who has been photographing the world’s most influential figures for the past 49 years, revealed last week a new campaign called “Face Forward” shot exclusively on the Google Pixel smartphone. The new series done in partnership with Google features portraits of James Turrell, Megan Rapino, Chase Strangio, and others. “Face Forward” has been in the works for over a year as a project to document the stories of some of the most prominent changemakers today. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us to celebrate people in the present who are doing things to create a better future,” journalist and activist Noor Tagouri, who was photographed for the campaign, tells TIME.

Leibovitz, who helped in the development phases of the camera in the new Google Pixel, is far from new in working with high-profile figures and successfully capturing their stories, but “Face Forward” is her first series shot entirely on smartphone. The photographer says she was “suspicious” when working with an older version of the smartphone at first but felt impressed by it this time.

Here’s what Leibovitz had to say about her new campaign and what the democratization of photography means today.”

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