Go See: Annie Leibovitz's The Early Years at Hauser & Wirth

I remember taking my first b&w photography class and being completely enamored by the work of Annie Leibovitz, so needless to say seeing her guide a tour of her Early Years exhibition Hauser & Wirth got me totally choked up.

Each vignette is arranged like a documentary film strip, giving intimate reportage of some incredible moments in our country’s history. Listening to her speak on her formative years working as one of the few female journalists shooting at Rolling Stone alongside Hunter S. Thomspon; on how she didn’t really have a decisive “aha moment” in her career and prefers to look at it as river of work; about how totally obsessive you have to be about your craft as a creative… it all really hit home.

There were probably 50+ arts and culture writers crowding her this morning, so I never got a chance to speak to Annie one-on-one, but if I could, I would tell her THANK YOU. Thank you for all that you’ve done for female storytellers, for photography, and for preserving our country’s history through your craft. It’s a real gift. (Also, you’re so. fucking. cool. Keep rocking those Solomons.)

If you’d like to check out the exhibition of Annie’s Early Works from 1970-1983, it’s showing now thru April 14. Bonus: Manuela is right inside the complex, so you can have a killer brunch with your gal pals right after. Def go check it out!