My wife brought home the latest issue of Vanity Fair today which features a cover photo of Indiana Jones (from the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) shot by Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz was allowed to take portrait photos of the characters and some of them are featured in the Vanity Fair article Keys to the Kingdom along with a video of the Annie Liebovitz photo session and individual Q&A with both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (all worth the time to read and watch).

One of the interesting aspects of the Leibovitz photos to me is how they seem to be following that “edgy” or “almost surreal” look that is popular. I had experimented with the edgy look a few month back (see Not for Everyone, The Making of Not for Everyone, and Lover’s Locks). My work was going well into the surreal zone, where Leibovitz’ seems to be balancing just this side of it.

These photos have the quality that they grab you and make you look closer because there is that something there.