Annie Leibovitz: 3 Portraits Analysis

"Captain Hook" - Russell Brand by Annie Leibovitz

• A portrait doesn't just have to be from the chest up, it can include the entire body - just make is visually interesting like Annie has done here
• Russell Brand is a comedian so she used that to her advantage and used his many facial expressions to pull off the Captain Hook look
• It's a wonderful representation of Captain Hook and his constant battle with the crocodile
• The cave gives it a real shape by really framing Russell
• The back lighting is used well, making his facial expression more visible and draws your eye to the main subject of the portrait
• The lines created are great! By having Russell standing with his legs spread apart like that on either side of the crocodiles mouth creates a continuous line that makes your eye travel around and around
• The accuracy of the story portrayed makes this a truly spectacular portrait

"Jack Sparrow" - Johnny Depp by Annie Leibovitz

• Johnny's stance is very 'Jack Sparrow' and really captures his character as Jack himself
• By having a warmer light it makes Johnny's skin appear even more tan than it really is and gives that impression that he's watching yet another sunset at sea
• The waves in the background suggest that he's out at sea, truly bring to attention that pirates spend most of their time out on the water rather than at port
• Johnny Depp may be positioned more to the center of the image, but his body is slanted to created a better line to draw your eye
• By not having just a bust shot it creates a better visually representation of Jack Sparrow and shows his entire character - this way you can focus one more than one element rather than just seeing Johnny's face
• His red bandanna draws your eye up to the top of the picture and the warm light really plays with the colour and enhances it
• By not having a sense of real expression on his face it really makes you think, 'what is he thinking?' - it enhances his sense of mystique and mystery, the craziness that Jack Sparrow possesses

"Marie Antoinette" - Kirsten Dunst by Annie Leibovitz

• The contrast in the use of patterns - the difference in the floor and dress are interesting and yet surprisingly work together
• The dress was a great choice in costume for capturing the character of Marie Antoinette - in her time it was all about the big dresses and it really suggests that it is in that time
• The rows of pillars behind Kirsten create a framing effect that makes it look like she's within a picture frame
• The light shone directly on her face, I think back light couldn't have worked here because you want to focus more of what's in the foreground rather than the background
• The blandness of the background - the colours - really makes the main subject pop and appears more visually interesting
• Her body stature plays with the rule of thirds by having her body off to the left side and her dress running along the bottom line
• A very dull lighting was used - I feel if a brighter light was used the colours would have been too bright and over bearing with the drastic colour of her dress