Received this book as a gift and what an extraordinary gift it is, in my mind primarily for what it reveals of the private life that dwells (for us onlookers) in the shadow of the public.
Annie Leibovitz has always struck me as a studiously private person, despite the very high public profile of her work. The occasional glimpse of her in a
Vanity Fair outtake seemed a rare peek at the artist behind the camera. Though I must admit that other than enjoying her photographs in VF - and, earlier and less knowingly, in
Rolling Stone - I never was a Leibovitz watcher or seeker, and thus having not saturated my consciousness with details of her life and career through the copious physical research I was inclined to do pre-Internet (or, for that matter, the exceedingly easier armchair research that is facilitated by the Internet), I perhaps merely had the illusion that she kept hidden behind the camera... an illusion because I didn't really know but only guessed.
Well, I don't think my illusion was incorrect. Leibovitz has been criticized, albeit primarily in a roundabout fashion, for not being more public/out about her relationship with Susan Sontag. The words "partner," "lover," etc. do not appear in her book nor in most reviews of the book. In fact - and I may be discrediting myself here as even a recreational observer of popular culture - I personally was not aware of Leibovitz and Sontag's relationship - had not an inkling, had never been conscious that they had
any connection to one another - until I came across an advance piece on this book that mentioned it in terms so subtle that I had to read it twice to get it. This was a tone, I believe, set by two women who did not feel the need to announce themselves, who, quite to the contrary, probably strove to preserve a modicum of privacy in two very public lives that melded together to produce a third, joint, gargantuan one precisely by not explicating themselves on this particular level.
But the book is a gorgeous and wrenching homage to their relationship. Sontag's intellectual curiosity - the liveliness of her mind - and her physical death more or less frame the collection of photographs, and Leibovitz's introductory essay refers to "Susan" more times, and it may be argued, more tenderly, than to anyone else, including her parents who are her other frequent subjects here. The significance is meant to be inferred - this, it is not difficult to deduce, is how Leibovitz handles the private side of her life: Let the pictures do the talking.
To behold these photographs as they are presented - with no preconceived notions of what lies between the book's covers (and I would argue that this element of surprise that swept me off my feet may only have been possible because the book was, literally, an unexpected gift) - is to experience something at once awesome and sacred. What a life, this photographer's life.
Sidebar: Apart from the most personal revelations this book contains, there are as well some interesting professional ones. The photos of celebrity subjects Leibovitz chose to include obviously are some of her favorites. Perusing them and imagining what ratio of aesthetic merit to subject's personality (and, indeed, personal relationship to the photographer) warranted their inclusion is as gratifying an escape as reading
Vanity Fair.Footnote: Here is a nice piece in which Leibovitz comments on her relationship with Sontag.
A wonderful little book is feeding - indeed reviving - my soul right now.
Also, is it possible for a dog to be your soul mate?
And, finally, Madeleine Peyroux's voice is hauntingly reminiscent of Billie Holiday. Old news by now, I know, but I've just taken my first listen to her.
How cool would it be if there were a weather schedule?
Northern California, Month of December 2006:
Rain Tuesdays & Thursdays; Sundays = wildcard.
Clear skies & warm temperatures Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays.
Or whatever. But just so that we could know ahead of time. And plan our cycling schedules, for instance, accordingly.
Keep dreaming.
Whose heart didn't break when those words were broadcast?
A combination of being busy and being shell-shocked has kept me from posting about this sooner, but last night I watched Anderson Cooper's special "Stranded" report detailing the Kims' horrible ordeal.
When this story first hit the news I found myself tearing up every time I read or saw an update. The whole family element touched a deep cord - and I imagine that's why this story was such a national fixation while related stories involving only a single man, say, or a couple (i.e., no kids), scarcely made it out of their specific locales.
At any rate, like most everyone else I suppose, I was engaged in debates about the wisdom - or lack thereof - of the Kims' apparent decisions. Early on there were a lot of questions about how they wound up out there, and I was a staunch defender of James & Kati. It's not that hard to get lost, their map didn't indicate the treachery of the roads they wound up taking, etc.
BUT... after seeing a detailed retracing of their steps, I cannot help but wonder what in the hell they were thinking. There are a dozen questions I could pose here that I believe call into question the judgment of James and Kati Kim that night. But to me the two most poignant are these: (1) Why did an extreme tech nut like James Kim not have a GPS device with him while on the road with his two small children in the Pacific Northwest in the winter in a vehicle that did not have 4-wheel drive? and (2) Why, when they reached that critical fork in the road, did one of them not get out of the car to examine that little sign closely - the one that would have told them that their coastal destination was to the left and not to the right?! That one makes my hair stand on end. Point the car at the sign, turn on the high beams, get out of the car, and see for certain what the hell the sign is telling you.
Without ranting further, I will simply say that I feel it is incumbent upon Kati Kim to come forward and reveal exactly what transpired that fateful night when they became lost, in order to dispel the public's doubts about her and James's good sense. James may have made an heroic trek through the wilderness in an attempt to save his family, but Kati needs to speak up in both James's and her own defense because knowing what we know now, this story is boiling down to a mother and father making dangerous mistakes - and, it seems, dangerous decisions - for themselves and their two small children.
This isn't to say I lack compassion for the entire Kim family. The whole thing is positively devastating - and incredibly frustrating. It was very telling to me when Eva Kim, being interviewed when the whole family was still missing, said that while her family were concerned for her brother and his wife, she felt it was "unfair" that the children were out there. That comment suggests that early on the Kim family were questioning James and Kati's decisions to travel in conditions that were conducive to risks of becoming lost or worse. That's probably the growing public opinion, and I hope Kati will clarify her and James's reasoning/processing. The actions they took that led their family to become stranded out there do not seem like the actions of two intelligent, resourceful individuals - at least not two clear-thinking intelligent, resourceful individuals. Again - it's
terrible that this happened... but
why did it happen?!
I mean, the speculation can go on endlessly. No one wants to blame the victim. Kati, please speak out and defend yourself and your husband.
