When not aiming her lens at celebrities for Vanity Fair and a million other Conde Nast glossies, Annie Liebowitz is being hounded by a different brand of photographer: the paparazzi. But she's a gentlelady: Rather than shoe them away or hold up her coat to their cameras, the salad-eating Annie is engaging!
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A couple years ago, we attended an Annie Leibowitz exhibition sponsored by American Express, where we witnessed the highly paid photog's ability to capture humans (that is, celebrities) in various states of emotionless gazing. Since then, we've watched her parade through the pages of Vanity Fair, where the word "budget" is used about as often as forks at the Conde Nast cafeteria.
Now Annie's latest project is to take the pennies saved from the New York Times' rounds of layoffs and document the construction of the Gray Lady's new Eighth Avenue tower, which is almost like what Bravo is attempting with Tabloid Wars only, like, actually worth watching.
If you’ve been laid off from the New York Times, at least you have the comfort of knowing that the savings from eliminating the cost of your salary and benefits is being put to good use. Not only is the Times paying to erect a glitzy new 52-story, Renzo Piano-designed tower, where they’ll have acres of additional space to house their ever-shrinking staff, but the paper of record's partner, Forest City Ratner, scraped together the dough to hire Annie Leibowitz to immortalize the construction process on film.
And more good news for the unemployed: you have the spare time to check out the public exhibition of the photos, at the site of the new headquarters at 41st Street and Eighth Avenue. It’s free, and it’s across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where you’ll probably be sleeping on a bench soon.
That's a real shame, too, since we hear the Penn Station benches are tres comfortable. And the closest you'll be forced to get with the New York Times is the Hudson News stapled at every corner.
Editorial Director
