Anna-Lou Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, taken five hours before Lennon's murder, is considered one of Rolling Stone magazine's most famous cover photographs. The Library of Congress declared her a Living Legend, and she is the first woman to have a feature exhibition at Washington's National Portrait Gallery.
Leibovitz in 2008
Annie Leibovitz's portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono a few hours before Lennon's murder
Leibovitz in front of her More Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover photo, 2008
On the evening of 8 December 1980, the English musician John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot and fatally wounded in the archway of the Dakota, his residence in New York City. The killer, Mark David Chapman, was an American Beatles fan who was jealous and enraged by Lennon's lifestyle, alongside his 1966 comment that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus". Chapman said he was inspired by the fictional character Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, a "phony-killer" who loathes hypocrisy.
A police artist's sketch of the murder
Annie Leibovitz's portrait of Lennon and Ono, taken on the day of the killing
The 72nd Street entrance to the Dakota, where Lennon was shot
Side view of the Dakota archway, showing the step Lennon climbed before he collapsed in the lobby
