Annie Leibowitz-the lesson
IÂ was reading an article concerning Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibowitz, arguably one of the most successful photographers of the last twenty years. The article concerned her impending financial problems due to back taxes, real estate liens, and monetary issues. Anyone embarking on a career in photography or freelance work is well advised to heed the tale.
The million dollar portfolio decisions she made regarding her commercial pre-release sale of her artwork photography is a lesson to any photographer great or small. Evidently Ms. Leibowitz traded on the expectations of her earnings as a photographer and released commercial sale rights of future works as financial guarantee for loans and other living expenses.
 But New York real estate doesn’t come cheap. How does a photographer earn millions of dollars a year? How can they predicate their earnings for such a sum in advance? Who would finance such a scheme and what are the pitfalls of becoming a participant?
It would seem Ms. Leibowitz found out. Buying million dollar real estate on assets unrealized seems imprudent at the best of times, but to risk losing creative control and artistic choice due to luxurious living standards seems improvident and somewhat lacking in professional estate management.
Intellectual property is no long measured by the size of the canvas, the document, or the bit file. Lawyers, agents, the public, may seem like vampires but they really are just looking for value. if you are going to movie in markets that require promotion and marketing of abstruse aesthetics, using dollar signs may be hazardous to your financial health.
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