Photo exhibit opens at the High

The first photograph on the left wall of the High Museum of Art's exhibition of Annie Leibovitz's photography is of a woman clad in a full bodysuit of black leather. Potential perversions and fetishes aside, the image seems oddly relaxed. Leibovitz manages to utilize a studio setting and a rather sensual wardrobe choice without appearing pornographic or tense, instead highlighting the flowing pose of her subject and the evident comfort of the setting.

That graphic image is one of the many shots in the exhibit from Leibovitz's time working for Vanity Fair magazine, a period that can be recalled for producing famous photos of Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and the very pregnant Demi Moore.

"I think what's interesting there, once you go through the show and start to try and compute the different people in front of her camera, it's quite amazing, because it's such a wide array," said Julian Cox, Curator of Photography at the High.

There are photographs of the Bush cabinet ironically placed side by side with a similar image, not of a presidential staff, but instead of Michael Moore's film crew.

But the exhibit is not all serious. Across the room from the aforementioned group portraits there are two shots of very famous movie stars ("actor" would be a stretch). R2D2 and one of the battle droids from George Lucas's Attack of the Clones had the privilege of appearing in front of Leibovitz's camera, and their metallic portraits add levity to the vast collection of photographs.

The exhibit highlights not only Leibovitz's professional work but also includes personal snapshots of her friends and family.

"The revelation of the exhibit is the personal work, which has never been seen before...These personal photos are grouped throughout the exhibit to show that her private life affected her professional work," Cox said.

The personal snapshots, which are smaller and predominantly black and white images, show both the highs and lows of Leibovitz's family life.

In impressively honest frames, Leibovitz presents both the birth of her daughter Sarah, and the descent and eventual death of her companion and lover Susan Sontag due to a prolonged battle with cancer.

"The 'snapshots' are a style of photography that I have always done. I have been taking reportage-type pictures my whole life," Leibovitz said in a press release from the High.

Cox described some of the challenges she faced when designing the exhibit. "There are a number of large scale, sort of billboard size black and white photographs, and those were hard to place because they are so big, and dominated the space."

Unfortunately, the landscapes, the final photographs of the exhibit, are slightly disappointing, especially compared to the rest of her work.

While her skill remains evident throughout the exhibit, the final frames seem out of focus and impersonal.

Ending on these frames, with their absence of humanity, seems to contradict the personal focus brought in by the inclusion of her family photos.

Despite the disappointing last images, the final impression of the exhibit is a positive one. Leibovitz "is so well known, and has been at the top of her field for 35 years," Cox said, and the exhibit is a tribute to her excellence.