Is It Worth It? - Annie Liebowitz: Women

 Annie Liebowitz: Women (Seattle Art Museum)  

I've taken a few photos in my time.  I understand contrasts of light, framing, subject matter and good timing.  Annie Liebowitz presents an amazing array of all of the above in her exhibition, Women.

Walking into it on a damp Seattle Sunday, I was hoping it would prove better than sitting in a pub watching a little of the NFL and talking a little T  & A with the fellas.  Not only were the images on the wall amazing to look at, the crowd at the Seattle Art Museum that day provided some eye candy as well.

Liebowitz has gained her fame in a number of different roles including Rolling Stone covers, news magazines, advertising, but if you were to walk  more

in without having heard of her, you would be impressed.  Her content for this show is women, many are famous, some are not, but all of the women photographed tell their own story.

This is actually one of the striking things of the show.  The stories of these women could be written out (someone get Anne Tyler on the phone) and an equally impressive book would be the result.  Annie Liebowitz has chosen great subject matter for her work.

Photographs of Hillary Rodham Clinton at the white house probably number well into the tens of thousands.  The image of her by Annie Liebowitz is remarkably like a painted portrait and should enter the history books wherever the senator is mentioned.

Eudora Welty, a favorite of many English majors, sits grayly in a chair shortly before death with eyes that hold volumes of untold stories.  Women on farms show their role in today's society as hard working, powerful women.

A law professor from the University of Chicago is shown in juxtaposition to a painting of another woman, a generation older, knitting.  The message is clear, and the image is striking.

It is interesting to note that Liebowitz was pretty exacting in her selection for Women as there are no men in the background, foreground or suggested in most of the photos.  In fact, the only male who appears in the exhibit is an infant, Gabriel Jagger, who appears nude (of course) with his mother Jerry Hall.

After reviewing the 70 or so photographs of women of all walks of life, it is hard not to learn a new respect for all women, including the ones I oogled throughout the gallery.  This is worth it.

Seattle Art Museum through January 6, 2002.  HURRY!

Click here for the Seattle Art Museum info