American photographer Annie Leibovitz is being officially welcomed into France鈥檚 prestigious Acad茅mie 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 Acad茅mie des Beaux-Arts is a French academic society, one of five that make up the Institut de France.
Credit: Shutterstock/Stefano Chiacchiarini '74
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鈥橧nstitut de France.
鈥淚t 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,鈥� Leibovitz said in a statement reported by Elle.
Leibovitz began her career working for Rolling Stone magazine in 1970. She became the magazine鈥檚 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.
. Cover, August 1991: Demi Moore by Annie Leibovitz
— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow)
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.
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The Queen went out walking with her dogs every day... The Queen grew up with corgis, fearless little dogs bred for herding cattle. Her father brought a corgi home when she was seven, and she was not without one鈥� for decades afterward.
Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, 2016
— Annie Leibovitz (@annieleibovitz)
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.
