Charlize Theron, Bushkill Falls, Pennsylvania, 2011 © Annie Leibovitz

Written by Angelica Cantù Rajnoldi

Edited by Jana Massoud

The legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz shares five decades of iconic images in her new book, Wonderland, published by Phaidon, the premier global publisher of the creative arts.

Drawing inspiration from two other monographic books, Women and Pilgrimage, Leibovitz dedicates more than 400 pages of Wonderland to the encounter with fashion world.

Sean Combs and Kate Moss, Hyatt Hotel,Paris,1999 © Annie Leibovitz

This unexpected and enchanting encounter must have surprised her, especially after finishing her work on this majestic oeuvre overflowing with challenging, rousing, and breathtaking experiences. We eventually share in this surprise ourselves, seeing that fashion has always been in front of her camera. Sometimes it becomes a mirror, a signal, a ‘barometer’ - as Annie Leibovitz says - filled with political, historical, social, and cultural meaning as in Patti Smith’s or Vanessa Pelosi’s portraits. Other times it becomes the trigger to the photographer’s imagination, which materializes in the haute couture photo shoot series, such as the ones inspired by Alice in Wonderland with Natalia Vodianova and the most acclaimed designers or Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst.

Annie Leibovitz: Wonderland, published by Phaidon

Through this book, we do really see the wonder of this complicated and fascinating realm. And we do so thanks to her mastery in recounting visual stories, real or fictional. We can almost feel that excitement and grandeur of each unique atmosphere. The editor-in-chief of American Vogue, Anna Wintour, after having commissioned her countless photo shoots, claims and makes us realize that “nothing is unphotographable for Annie; no requests is too outlandish, too bizarre, too hard”, not even the most renowned models, singers, dancers, actors, athletes, designers, first ladies. These celebrities have almost all fallen under the attention of her photographic eye. From their gaze, we sense that Anna Leibovitz is looking at each of them as they want to be looked at. This – in my opinion – is why she will keep preserving her stay in Wonderland.

Wonderland is available for purchase on the Phaidon website.

Photo edited by Nikhita Samala