American photographer Annie Leibovitz honoured in France

American photographer Annie Leibovitz is being officially welcomed into France’s prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts) on Wednesday (March 20).

Leibovitz, 74, known for her intimate photographs of celebrities, politicians and even royalty, has had work published in many titles including Vogue and Rolling Stone.

She is being welcomed as a foreign associate member of the prestigious institution during a ceremony in Paris.

The Académie des Beaux-Arts is a French academic society, one of five that make up the Institut de France.

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is presenting Leibovitz with an academic sword as part of the ceremony, to be held under the dome of the Palais de l’Institut de France.

“It is a great honour to have Anna Wintour present me with my sword. We share the same values and professional requirements. From there, our friendship was born,” Leibovitz said in a statement reported by Elle.

Leibovitz began her career working for Rolling Stone magazine in 1970. She became the magazine’s main photographer in 1973 and during her decade in the role shot 142 covers.

One of her most iconic shots for the magazine was the January 1981 cover, which showed a naked John Lennon wrapped around a clothed Yoko Ono.

Leibovitz took the photo just hours before Lennon was shot dead in New York in December 1980, making it the last photograph ever taken of the former Beatle.

Other famous photos include the helicopter transporting US President Richard Nixon as he left the White House and a heavily pregnant Demi Moore for the 1991 cover of Vanity Fair.

In 2007, Leibovitz shot Queen Elizabeth II, making her the first American to produce an official portrait of the monarch. She shot the Queen again in 2016 in honour of her 90th birthday.

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