CULTURE: The Real Reason Annie Leibovitz Is Broke!

Despite earning $2 million a year from Vanity Fair, celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz is in dire financial straits—how can this be? John Gapper explains in the Financial Times: No one is collecting her work. Despite shooting such iconic pictures as a naked and pregnant Demi Moore, or the also-naked John Lennon with Yoko Ono, Leibovitz’s work simply hasn’t gained a following among people with expensive tastes. Some don’t admire her style; some cite a lack of focus; others say she hasn’t played “by the art market rules.”

High-profile fashion and society photographers sold some of their works for as much as $3 million, but at auctions this year, most of Leibovitz’s prints have sold for single-figure thousands, or even just hundreds, of dollars. One expert explains that in order to find success, artists must work closely with auction houses and galleries—and Leibovitz hasn’t. “She suffered from not caring about it, not paying enough attention,” says one gallery owner; another adds, “We dropped her because it would take six months just to get a print signed.”