Top Ten Most Iconic Annie Leibovitz Photos

Access Hollywood - April 29, 2008 8:56 AM PDT

The recent Miley Cyrus photos aren't the latest images taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz to stir up controversy. In fact, she's been taking legendary photos of celebrities for four decades!

Her iconic images of Pete Townshend, Meryl Streep, Susan Sontag, Lily Tomlin, The Rolling Stones and many others aren't even on our list below. There are simply too many to list and the art certainly can't be easily quantified.

[ Miley Cyrus - Check Out the Photos ]

But here is our list of ten of Leibovitz's most outrageous, controversial, iconic and infamous shots - in other words, some of our favorites!

1. Yoko Ono & John Lennon (1980) - Taken for the cover of Rolling Stone on the morning of December 8, 1980, it was one of the last images of Lennon before he was assassinated later that afternoon.

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2. Demi Moore (1991) - Appearing nude & pregnant with daughter Scout on the cover of Vanity Fair in 1991, this image of Demi was criticized by some and loved by others. Some called it sexist, and others called it revolutionary - but everyone had an opinion!

3. Queen Elizabeth (2007) - In May 2007, Leibovitz was criticized for asking Queen Elizabeth II to take off her crown during a shoot. Critics were divided on the results (meant to commemorate QEII's trip to the U.S. that spring); some called it a postmodern take on Helen Mirren's interpretation of the monarch in the 2006 film, "The Queen," while others felt the results were appropriately regal & elegant.

[ Hollywood Moms - Check Out the Photos ]

4. Gisele Bundchen & LeBron James (2008) - Just earlier this month, the NBA star and the Brazilian supermodel appeared to reinterpret King Kong and Faye Wray, in a shot which many critics called racist.

5. Bruce Springsteen (1984) - For his "Born In The U.S.A." album cover, Leibovitz went all-American - with a picture of the Boss's behind - in red, white & blue!

6. Leonardo DiCaprio & Knut the polar bear (2007) - After Al Gore won his Oscar for "An Inconvient Truth," environmental awareness was in again! For this Vanity Fair cover, she shot Hollywood earth crusader DiCaprio with an adorable baby polar bear named Knut, who had recently been rescued and raised by a German zookeeper. As of 2008, the zoo was facing the challenge of how to get Knut to reacclimatize to becoming an adult bear, following the celebrity status that resulted from these photos.

7. Whoopi Goldberg (1984) - Before "The View," when an up-and-coming young stand-up comic named Whoopi was just becoming famous, Leibovitz shot her from above in a bathtub full of milk, her dark skin poignantly contrasting to the white around her.

8. Tom Ford, Scarlett Johansson & Keira Knightley (2006) - For Vanity Fair's 2006 Hollywood issue, Leibovitz wanted to shoot three of Hollywood's most budding ingnue starlets naked together. When Rachel McAdams reportedly backed out at the last minute, famed gay fashion designer Tom Ford stepped in her place - the addition of a man into the shot lent a sexually-charged feeling to the image, and took the focus away from the Oscars themselves in that year's issue.

9. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes & daughter Suri (2006) - When months had passed without the public having seen an image of Tom Cruise's first biological off-spring, the public began to question whether or not she really existed. Her big debut came on the cover of Vanity Fair… a young Suri tucked beneath the jacket of her doting father, with mom watching closely over.

10. Sting (1985) - Back in her days with Rolling Stone, Leibovitz shot former Police front man Sting, standing in a yoga tree pose in Lucerne Valley, California. His body was naked and caked in mud, matching the ground and horizon below and behind him.

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comments 1-10 of 19  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >|  hide comments · post a comment
  • Kristin
    I think Miley is a normal 15 year old girl. She does things for the attention of boys and she does things to make other girls jealous. Whether you think she is talented or not, she is popular and therefore famous. The media broadcasts and blows every aspect of her life out of proportion. If she was your classmate in high school, her behavior would not be so different than those of others.
    report abuseposted August 10, 2008 11:05 PM PDT
  • TEFERA
    WEIRD JUNK*********
    report abuseposted July 29, 2008 2:14 PM PDT
  • La Companera
    Keira is a great person and actress why would you want her to pose nude with a gay guy and Scarlett???? Sure she's great looking but that could take down her rep a little bit. And Demi pose nude with her baby in her stomach that was her desision.
    report abuseposted July 17, 2008 4:59 PM PDT
  • hpobsessed429
    Come on! Give her a break. Some people get PREGNANT at 15, she's just posing with a sheet. It's not like she released a sex tape @ 15 like Paris Hilton. She's just a teenager, she'll make mistakes! GIVE HER A BREAK!!!! How would YOU like to be so famous at a young age and have EVERY SINGLE FREAKING MOVE criticized.
    report abuseposted May 14, 2008 5:47 PM PDT
  • ebeth
    What is the big deal??? She wasn't naked like Vanessa from HSM! Get over it people! There are more important things to worry with besides MileyGate..She is just another Billionarie Teenager.
    report abuseposted May 4, 2008 1:50 PM PDT
  • OMG
    I can't stand annie liebowitz overrated photohog
    report abuseposted May 2, 2008 5:10 AM PDT
  • Chilton
    Innocent_honey, you're a crack-up. You are definitely a halfway informed high school senior or college freshman. You need to understand that people all over the world are dying every day because their own repressive governments are killing them, and twas ever thus. You won't ever do any good in the world following the path you're on. Change.
    report abuseposted May 1, 2008 3:45 AM PDT
  • erika h
    sheesh whats the big deal, with the miley cyrus and other celebrity photos..i mean i the end there JUST PICTURES. mileys not offending any1 with those picture. give her a break, i mean she has to grow up at some point!
    report abuseposted April 30, 2008 8:58 AM PDT
  • innocent_honey6909
    leave these celebs alone, don't you people have something else to worry about besides what they are doing with their lives..people all across the world are dying everyday because of this man that we call our president is a complete idiot..GET WITH THE REAL PICTURE PEOPLE!!!!
    report abuseposted April 30, 2008 7:50 AM PDT
  • Frazz
    Would I let my daughter pose like that at 15? umm no. Would I have a problem with it if SHE wanted to do it at 18? Absolutely not. I don't' have a problem with the pics other than I think she should have waited a few years. Now the green bra pics... let's just say my 11yo daughter's internet is really restricted right now.
    report abuseposted April 30, 2008 1:17 AM PDT
comments 1-10 of 19  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >| 

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