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| © Annie Leibovitz / Vanity Fair |
| WINNER: Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. Click photo for more images from the competition. |
American popular culture had barely come to know The Sopranos in 1999 when Annie Leibovitz captured the show's dark humor in a shot for Vanity Fair. The photo re-created Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper," with Tony Soprano as a New Jersey Jesus in danger of being betrayed by his mobbed-up disciples. Leibovitz's perfect pitch for Sopranos-style tragedy inspired HBO to hire her for the series' print ad campaign.
And in April 2007, when Vanity Fair returned for one last trip to Satriale's Pork Store, it was of course Leibovitz who shot the story, featuring a cover photo of star James Gandolfini with series creator David Chase. Part of a series of Leibovitz images that Vanity Fair submitted to our contest -- along with portraits of actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio and rock poetess Patti Smith -- the photo of the melancholy mob boss reaffirmes the narrative power of Leibovitz's celebrity iconography.
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