Annie Leibovitz is most renowned for her legendary celebrity portraits, thanks to which she gained worldwide popularity and is now considered one of the most influential photographers of our time.
In 1978, Annie Leibovitz followed Patti Smith and her band on the road for a cover story in Rolling Stone magazine. Patti Smith's second album had just been released, featuring the successful single Because the Night, which made it to the Top Twenty charts. For the cover shot, Leibovitz decided to capture the image in New Orleans and envisioned a striking backdrop of flames, perhaps inspired by the lyrics Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe from the single. To bring this idea to life, they rented a warehouse and set fire to several barrels of kerosene, even though the temperature inside was already scorching. Fortunately, the warehouse survived the fiery shoot, although Patti suffered a minor singeing on her back.
“ Years before it ever occurred to me that one could have a life as a photographer, I had become accustomed to looking at the world through a frame. „