Vanity Fair Cover Update

From one of my recent posts I talked about Vanity Fair magazine’s recent covers (20 different covers to be exact) that are touted by the editors as “historic.” Yet only two of the Annie Leibovitz covers are real, the other 18 were Photoshopped in post production. After checking the actual magazines there is nothing that states the “historic” covers are actually illustrations. In fact, for the most part you are led to believe that these people actually came together in each scene. In the print version of the magazine the film markers are even showing, even further emphasizing that these are “real” images. Only the subjects of two covers, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Alicia Keys and Iman, were photographed together.

Historic & Manipulated

Vanity Fair magazine’s recent covers (20 different covers to be exact) are touted by the editors as “historic.” Yet only two of the Annie Leibovitz covers are real, the other 18 were Photoshopped in post production.

My problem is with the word “Historic” being used to describe the images and the covers. While the covers are well done (what do you expect from Annie Leibovitz) they are hardly historic. Historic would have been to have all the subjects together and having a dialogue during the shoot. It will be interesting to see how Vanity Fair words the image description for each cover. Will the word “illustration” appear?

The idea by guest editor Bono of U2 fame was to create a visual link of important actors involved in advocating for the African continent. Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Barack Obama, George Clooney, Madonna, Brad Pitt and Desmond Tutu are just a few of the famous faces on the covers. Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts of the Washington Post quote Leibovitz as saying, “These are more photo illustrations than photographs, but the point was to unite people for a common purpose.” Leibovitz traveled the world to track everyone down and get the singular images that would later be combined. Only the subjects of two covers, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Alicia Keys and Iman, were photographed together.

Men’s Fitness and Andy Roddick

When Men’s Fitness magazine “beefed” up Andy Roddick’s arms in a recent cover they crossed an ever increasing grey line (for some) of digitally manipulated cover art. I believe there is no distinction between what Men’s Fitness did and what recent photojournalists did, deceiving the public. Publishers believe they are doing the right thing when presenting cover “art.” But where do we draw the line?

From Roddick’s BLOG: I spent the last few weeks in Austin really focused on my training and getting back into shape…but pretty sure I’m not as fit as the Men’s Fitness cover suggests…little did I know I have 22 inch guns and a disappearing birth mark on my right arm. I saw the cover for the first time when I landed after Rome…it was pretty funny…I walked by the newsstand in the airport and did a total double take …I can barely figure out how to work the red-eye tool on my digital camera…whoever did this has mad skills.

DN