Annie L's Financial Woes

Leibovitz's controversial photo of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore for Vanity Fair

Uber-photographer, Annie Leibovitz, has money problems. (Don't we all these days? Leastwise, many of us do.) It seems Ms. L has hocked properties, as well as the copyrights to all her photos--past, present, and future--against a loan from Art Capital Group, a NYC lender. It's reported the loans total $15.5M.

One would think a photographer of Ms. L's status and income would be immune from financial woes. Apparently, not so.

Some reports say Ms. L's personal finances are just fine: The loans being the result of Annie's inheritance from the Susan Sontag estate, i.e., a condition of the bequethment was that Ms. L needed to pay-off balances on properties, once owned by Sontag, in order to qualify as a beneficiary of the estate.

On an upbeat note, it's good to know there are lenders who place real value on photographs and photography!

Now, if I can only figure out how to make all my snaps worth $15.5M! Heck, I'd settle for just a million or two.

Iconic Pop Culture Image Embroiled in Lawsuit

The 20th Century produced many iconic photos. In the pop culture genre, few, if any, are as memorable as the image above of actress, Farrah Fawcett. How many bedroom walls of adolescent, teen, and young lads did the poster-size version of this image adorn? I have no idea. But I'm guessing it's in the millions! And I'll bet there's still more than a few of those walls where the poster still hangs.

Now, as reported on the notorious TMZ website, Ms. Fawcett is suing over the image's rights.

In the world of art, photo art included, it all eventually boils down to money.

You can read about it HERE.

The Nation's First-Photographer?

Malia Obama, First-Kid and First-Photographer, AP Photo

Her Dad is the President. Her Mom is the First-Lady. She and her little sister are the First-Children. But might Malia also be the First-Photographer? She looks quite comfortable wielding that Kodak point-n-shoot.

CLICK HERE to see more pics of Malia snapping pics at the inauguration and elsewhere, as well as some great commentary about her doing so.

Death of Polaroid Making You Paranoid?

By Nimano, from the Polanoid Pictures Collection

"When Polaroid announced last February that it would stop production of its instant film, it seemed the much-loved camera was gone forever. But within weeks, a group of users had started a global campaign for the format to return. And now, thanks to an unlikely saviour, their pleas have been heard."

That's what's being reported in the Gadgets & Tech section of the U.K.'s "The Independent."

Personally, I'm not much of Polaroid user, never have been. That's not to say I haven't sampled the joys of Polaroiding a few times in my life. I have. It just never appealed to me too much. But what if I suddenly woke up tomorrow and thought, "Damn! I want to shoot some Polaroids!" Well, I guess I could. And it looks like I can do so for the forseeable future.

CLICK HERE for the Independent article and some other links... like to the biggest Polaroid archive on the net!

Early Firsts In Photography

From Eadweard Muybridge's high speed photo series.

Someone I'm following on Twitter posted a link to an interesting article on a site called, The List Universe. The List Universe article, titled, "Top 10 Incredible Early Firsts In Photography." is pretty interesting stuff! Check it out!