Annie Leibovitz Could Lose Homes & Rights to Own Photographs
by Najwa Moses at August 4, 2009, 8:57 AM
My goodness, this is really sad to hear. The highest paid photographer in the world, Annie may lose her houses, her art work and the rights to her own incredible photographs as Art Capital Group, which loaned Annie $24 million, may foreclose on her. The company says she is behind on fees and has not cooperated in selling her art to pay off the loan.
Though Annie herself remains mum, friends and colleagues say that despite her many successes, Ms. Leibovitz has been shadowed by a long history of less than careful financial dealings, which recently include tax liens of $1.4 million and two lawsuits claiming that she has not paid more than $700,000 in bills for photography services.
"The mind that can take these extraordinary pictures is not necessarily the same mind that is a perfect money manager," said Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair.
Alongside that, Ms. Leibovitz has suffered a series of personal tragic blows in the past five years including the loss of her father, her mother and her companion, Susan Sontag.
Charlie Scheips, the former director of the Conde Nast photo archive who helped Ms. Leibovitz make a deal last year with an auction house to sell prints of her photographs, said that when he spoke to her recently, he was told: "I'm really under the gun. I've got three daughters, I lost my spouse. I've got too many jobs to do and it's chaos."
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