WOMEN

Homage to an iconic portraitist.

In a lavish celebration of photographer Annie Leibovitz, Phaidon has republished her 1999 volume of women’s portraits, with an introduction by Sontag, along with a second volume of recent portraits, with essays by Steinem and Adichie. Totaling 250 in all, the portraits, as Sontag writes, stand as “an anthology of destinies and disabilities and new possibilities.” Reflecting Leibovitz’s reputation as celebrity portraitist, Volume 1 is aptly star-studded, featuring Drew Barrymore, Patti Smith, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Yoko Ono, Serena and Vanessa Williams, Katharine Graham, and Martha Stewart, among many others. But Leibovitz also focuses her lens on women out of the limelight: a mountain biker and sewing machine operator, a waitress and two battered victims of domestic violence. “The ensemble says: So this is what women are now,” Sontag writes. “One of the tasks of photography is to disclose, and shape our sense of, the variety of the world. It is not to present ideals.” Steinem reiterates that message, adding that “Annie’s images demanded that women be seen” in all their variety and as a “proud reflection” of “feminist rebellion, self-respect, visibility and humanity.” Each essayist asserts that beyond their impressive artistry, the portraits convey an important message about beauty, power, and agency: “Any book of photographs of women,” Adichie writes, “simply by existing, has taken a political position about the value of women’s stories.” Volume 2 is replete with images of actors and activists, politicians and writers, musicians and scientists, young and old, among them Kara Walker, Michelle Obama, Greta Thumberg, Joan Baez, and Kim Kardashian. Each volume contains thumbnail biographies of the women portrayed; what is lacking, however, is the date the photograph was taken, which would be helpful information.

An opulent coffee-table tribute.