Social media users called out professional photographer Annie Leibovitz after photos of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson surfaced on the internet. Critics claimed Leibovitz didn’t know how to photograph Black women due to the poor lighting in a lot of her photos.
The 72-year-old posted photos she took of Jackson for Vogue Magazine on Twitter, gaining a lot of mixed reactions from Twitter users.
“I have no idea why Vogue still allows you to take photographs of Black people,” a Twitter user wrote. “You are one of the most acclaimed photographers of this era, and you STILL can’t properly light a Black person to save your d**n life. And you’ve been called on this for two decades now and won’t learn.”
I have no idea why Vogue still allows you to take photographs of Black people. You are one of the most acclaimed photographers of this era and you STILL can’t properly light a Black person to save your damn life. And you’ve been called on this for two decades now and won’t learn.
— Mx. Amadi Lovelace (@amaditalks) August 17, 2022
“All the resources in the world and so little thought invested towards lighting dark complexions,” another one wrote.
All the resources in the world and so little thought invested towards lighting dark complexions.
— maria fenton (@mariaufenton) August 16, 2022
Moreover, very few detractors had an issue with where she was located.
“This is horrible,” a Twitter user wrote. “How did you manage the 1). Poor lighting of this Black woman, 2). De-center her in her own narrative, and 3). Make a dead white man the center of a Black woman’s success and narrative. Vogue doesn’t have any Black women photogs who could have done this right?”
This is horrible. How did you manage the 1). Poor lighting of this Black woman, 2). De-center her in her own narrative, and 3). Make a dead white man the center of a Black woman’s success and narrative. Vogue doesn’t have any Black women photogs who could have done this right?
— T.M. Bonner (@rosandyreel) August 17, 2022
Leibovitz has photographed prominent Black figures, so the Supreme Court Justice wasn’t her first time. In 2020, a Twitter user posted photos Leibovitz took of Simone Biles with poor lighting.
Simone Biles deserved better than Annie Leibovitz bad lighting. pic.twitter.com/I7SvmCmKJP
— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) July 10, 2020
Others took the professional photographer’s dark photos and lightened them to prove that Leibovitz could’ve put forth more effort with Jackson’s photos.
This is on purpose. I mean, it took less than five minutes for both of these, and I know I don’t even have the cameras, lighting rigs and software she does. pic.twitter.com/RDvaMOtBXY
— Ray Mitchell (@raymundmitchell) August 16, 2022
On the other hand, some found nothing wrong with Leibovitz’s photos of Jackson.
“If you look the pics are taken in natural light, a Twitter post read. “I appreciate that they aren’t overly lit. Over her shoulder, I can see an amazing sunrise/sunset that highlights her natural beauty. The color of royalty just puts the exclamation point for me. I’m just [saying].”
If you look the pics are taken in natural light. I appreciate that they aren’t overly lit. Over her shoulder I can see an amazing sunrise/sunset that highlights her natural beauty, the color of royalty just puts the exclamation point for me. I’m just sayin…
— Fran H{NastyGyrl} (@CrabQ) August 17, 2022
“She photographed her magnificently,” another tweet read. “The photos are raw, provoking, and natural.”
She photographed her magnificently. The photos are raw, provoking, and natural.
— Leviticus (@walk_levi) August 17, 2022
