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BENTONVILLE — Annie Leibovitz talked to a thousand aspiring Arkansas photographers on Saturday.

Or thereabouts.

The famed portrait photographer was in Bentonville last week for various activities surrounding the opening of her exhibit, “Annie Leibovitz at Work,” at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

The exhibit, which opened Saturday, will continue through Jan. 29.

On Saturday morning, Leibovitz led three groups of about 300 teenagers each through the gallery at Crystal Bridges and talked about her photographs on display. It was part of a teen photography mentorship program at the museum.

One photograph shows the helicopter in which Richard Nixon was spirited from the White House after his resignation in 1974.

Leibovitz said she was elbowed off to the perimeter of the press photographer pack. She was the only female there, just 24 years old at the time, and shooting for Rolling Stone magazine.

The veteran, hard-core White House photographers had staked out their places to get photographs of Nixon boarding the helicopter and waving goodbye.

But from the edge, Leibovitz got one of the most memorable photographs of the day — a wide view of three guards rolling up the red carpet as the helicopter in the background lifted off and the rotor whipped up a breeze that had the guards holding their hats.

“Nixon takes off, and all the veteran photographers are walking off the field, and I’m kind of over there by myself,” said Leibovitz. “I turn around and I see this moment and I take it. It’s an off moment. It’s not the moment.

“And now, today, we see that all the time. It’s like, photographers, that’s what they look for. But at the time, most news photography was doing close-ups, headshots and things like that.”

Leibovitz said to be a good photographer, it helps to be obsessive if not a little crazy.

“When you’re young, you guys, you’ve gotta be obsessed. You gotta figure to be crazy,” she said. “You’ve gotta have your camera on you all the time. You’ve got to be thinking, you know, what are you seeing in front of you. And it’s really learning how to see. And … how to photograph the moment.”

Marta Knodle, manager of youth and family programs at Crystal Bridges, said the event for teenagers was open to anyone who registered, but limited to 1,000 participants.

“We wanted to make it as accessible as possible, so we opened it up for anyone that wanted to participate, keeping in mind the cap of about 1,000 people just for capacity,” she said.

The teenagers will be paired with a local photographer — Ashley Lewis, Meredith Mashburn or Brandon Watts — to serve as a mentor. The kids will meet periodically with their mentor through January and work on a photo project during that time.

Photographs the teenagers take will be displayed in a room at the museum’s studio area from Nov. 18 through the time that Leibovitz’ exhibit is on display, said Knodle.

“They’re going to take what Annie Leibovitz talks about today and they’re just going to apply it in a way that the team can really learn something about photography, wherever they’re at, whether basic and even if they have some more advanced knowledge,” she said. “So wherever they’re at is where we’re meeting them, and the mentors are going to take them through some more educational aspects of photography, working with the camera … working with whatever picture taking device that they might have.”

During a lecture at Crystal Bridges on Friday night, Leibovitz said she takes a lot of personal photos now on her iPhone.

“To this day, my favorite photographs are still photographs of my family,” she said Saturday.

Olivia Sanders, 16, of Rogers said it was “really inspiring” to see the breadth of Leibovitz’s photo work, from the beginning to recent, and to hear Leibovitz’s talk about how she got started in photography as a student at the San Francisco Art Institute.

“She was very real about her experiences and how she’s kind of socially awkward,” said Sanders. “It was cool to see that she’s just herself.”

“It was a really fun and eye-opening experience to listen to her speak and how everything happened in her life,” said Addison Frazier, 17, of Bentonville. “And all of her pictures are so beautiful.”

Georgia Shea, 16, of Branson said she thought it was particularly interesting when Leibovitz talked about having a disconnect with writers working on stories that she was photographing.

“How sometimes … she would have her own vision when it came to the picture, have her own side of the story that she was just thinking inside, and how you can be reading one thing but just the still picture itself can tell a whole ‘nother story,” said Shea.

“There are some things that just don’t need words.”

    Annie Leibovitz answers questions on Saturday Sept. 16 2023 from aspiring young photographers at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Flip Putthoff)
  

    Teens with a photography interest view on Saturday Sept. 16 2023 pictures shot by Annie Leibovitz and hear her remarks during tours of her exhibit at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentoville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Flip Putthoff)
 Flip Putthoff   

(Editor’s note: Now in its third iteration, the Laine Business Accelerator recently awarded $5,000 to 11 enterprises seeking to launch or expand their businesses. Included here is a profile of one of those businesses.)

OLEAN — For Sarah Blovsky, her photography business is extremely personal — and for good reason.

What started out as a fulfilling hobby has turned into her dream business, and the motivation for that sprang from the time she spent with her father as he was battling brain cancer.

“I had been working in admissions at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, when, after my father’s second surgery, it became apparent that I needed to be home with him,” she said. “I made the decision to stay with him and care for him — and I will never regret that decision.”

Indeed, it was Blovsky’s desire to entertain her dad and put a smile on his face that fanned the flames of her interest in photography.

“Dad couldn’t move, so I began taking pictures to show him of what was going on outside — the snow, the landscape, etc. It made him so happy and was such a great sharing time with him. He would say, ‘I love your pictures.’ It was a special time.

“I’ve always loved landscaping photography, so taking those pictures was just a natural extension of what I enjoyed. And the fact that I was doing it for my Dad made it so meaningful and unforgettable.

“Dad was only 47 when he passed away,” she said. “I cherish those moments I had with him, and when I look at those photographs, I know exactly what happened in that moment and I can hear his laughter again.”

But it took a while — several months — after her father’s death before she could pick up her camera again. And when she did, the first picture she saw on her camera comforted her and inspired her.

“It was a picture I had taken for my dad,” she said. “I considered that a sign that I needed to get back into photography.”

And so she did, but with a twist. Unlike many professional photographers who rely on weddings and similar events as their livelihood, Blovsky wanted her focus to be different.

“I wanted to photograph and capture the moments that might not even be considered an event,” she said. “For example, shortly after we first received the news of Dad’s diagnosis, there was a benefit held for him and our family, and I thought to snap pictures during the event. I wanted to capture the beauty of community and everyone coming together. And that night, Dad was so full of adrenaline, he was wide awake and stayed up for hours looking at them.”

Now, Blovsky concentrates on portrait photography. “My goal is to provide my clients with images that they will cherish forever, one that will one day be worth so much more.”

While she says she was “honestly surprised” to be selected for this year’s Laine Business Accelerator cohort, she knows how important the experience can be to her business.

“I’m looking forward to meeting like-minded entrepreneurs, expanding my network and learning from my mentors.” She plans to invest the $5,000 LBA grant in new equipment and in marketing her business.

But for Blovsky, photography will always be much more than a business — it will always be personal and, in a way, an enduring tribute to her dad.

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