52 AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER 15 2008
canbeawaytoconnectwithsomeone.Music
letspeoplebethemselves.
Whatdoyouplaywhenyou’reshooting, say,
QueenElizabeth II?OrHarryPotteractorDan-
ielRadcliffe?
Withthequeen, theshoothadtobeso fast,
therewasnotime formusic.Thesedays,a lot
ofpeoplebringtheir iPods,andthat’swhat
Danieldid.
Howhaveyouchangedasaphotographer,
particularly inworkingwithmusicians?
When Iwentbackto lookatphotos for [my
book]
AnnieLeibovitz:AmericanMusic
, I
turnedaway from individualsandwentmore
toward landscapes.Music istoohardtotry
touchstonesyoualwaysgobackto.
Whomdoyouthinkyou’llbe listeningtodown
the road?
Forme,BobDylanwithstandstime.Hissongs
feel timeless. I loveBruceSpringsteentoo.You
don’tevergowrongthere.Thoseareartists
whoarebeyondpast,present,and future—
they’re
always
great.
Inyournewbook,youtalkaboutusingmusic
duringphotoshoots.Whatdoesmusicaddto
aset?
Whenyou listentomusic, itsortof relaxesyou,
takesyouaway,movesyou,comfortsyou. It
cansetatone. Itcansometimesbeamessage
tothesitter,dependingonwhatyouputon. It
topinpoint. It’s liketryingtophotographthe
ocean:Youmaybeabletofindabeginning,but
you’llneverfindtheend. It’s justtoobig.
It’shardtophotographmusic.When Iwas
younger, Iwasafraidtoputthecameradown. I
wasafraid Iwouldmissashot,and Iwasafraid
ofwhat Iwoulddowithouttheconfidencethe
cameragaveme.Eventually, Ihadtoputthe
cameradownso Icouldstartdevelopinga life.
Itwas reallyanefforttoputthecameradown.
Ihadtoworkat it.Butwhenyoudo,youstart
to livea littlebitmore,andthatmeansyoucan
hearthemusicandenjoythemoment instead
ofalwaystryingtograb it.
J. RENtIllY
is aLosAngeles–based journalistwho covers film,
music, literature, and pop culture for a variety of national and
international publications.
ArnoldSchwarzenegger,SunValley, Idaho, 1997
