Annie Leibovitz

<p>When <b>Benedikt Taschen asked the most important portrait photographer working today, Annie Leibovitz,</b> to collect her pictures in a <b>SUMO-sized book</b>, she was intrigued by the challenge. The project took several years to develop and when it was finally published in 2014, it weighed in at 26 kg (57 pounds).<br> <br> <b>This incredible collection is now available in an accessible XXL book format.</b><br> <br> <b>Leibovitz drew on more than 40 years of work</b>, starting with the photojournalism she did for <b>Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s</b> through the conceptual portraits she made for <b>Vanity Fair</b> and <b>Vogue</b>. She selected iconic images-such as <b>John Lennon and Yoko Ono</b> entwined in a last embrace-as well as portraits that had rarely, if ever, been seen before.<br> <br> The Annie Leibovitz SUMO covered political and cultural history, from <b>Queen Elizabeth II</b> and <b>Richard Nixon</b> to <b>Laurie Anderson</b> and <b>Lady Gaga.</b><br> <br> "What I had thought of initially as a simple process of imagining what looked good big, what photographs would work in a large format, became something else," Leibovitz says. <b>"The book is very personal, but the narrative is told through popular culture.</b> It's not arranged chronologically and it's not a retrospective. It's more like a roller coaster."<br> <br> <b>Fans of Leibovitz and her many celebrated subjects can now enjoy that same roller coaster ride for themselves with this unlimited edition.</b></p>