Just a few days left to visit Annie Leibovitz’s exhibition ‘Pilgrimage’ at the New York Historical Society, which marks a significant change of style for the world-renowned portrait photographer. On display in fact this time rather than her classic studio shots commissioned by glossy magazines and advertising moguls, you’ll find what’s left over of iconic celebrities that are no longer with us.
Just like in a pilgrimage, Leibovitz takes us on a journey at the discovery of famous names of the past such as Elvis Presley, Sigmund Freud and Emily Dickinson. A delicate trail made of photographic memories that will shed some light on the lives of celebrities that have deeply influenced society. The result is a display of shots miles away from Leibovitz’s usual style, which is always refined, sometimes lavish, sometimes elegantly baroque-inspired.
In this case, the photos on display at the Historical Society are deliberately cold and distant, seemingly simple and fortuitous. There are no celebrity faces to focus the attention on, but only objects. Such as the television set shot by Elvis Presley in a moment of rage, one of Emily Dickinson’s dresses and Sigmund Freud’s sofa. Relics, memories, shreds of the past that tell a thousand stories: all you need to do is to look at them with the right eyes.