WOMEN: New Portraits

PRODUCTION

Tasked with bringing Leibovitz’s photography for WOMEN: New Portraits to a state-of-the-art bespoke 24K video wall system, MSP provided creative, technical, and production services to design and execute the plan across ten international cities. The implementation required a specialized workflow to maintain the original gamut of Leibovitz’s printed colors on customized displays, marrying the tangible feel of her analog prints with the scale and detail of the ultra-high-resolution video walls. This was done while compensating for limitations inherent in LCD technology, beta 4K video codecs, and 4K media playback. Working in uncharted technical territory, MSP refined the process and output, technically and artistically, to meet Leibovitz’s standards. The work also included designing and fabricating a modular steel support structure for the monitors that could be assembled, packed, and reassembled with ease and precision.

For more than a year, across ten cities, MSP managed the traveling exhibition, including international shipping, local crews, local materials, and installation and deinstallation.

THE EXHIBITION

WOMEN: New Portraits is a continuation of Leibovitz’s most enduring and well-known photography series, WOMEN, originally published in 1999. The initial project was a collaboration between Leibovitz and Susan Sontag, who referred to this body of images as “a work in progress.” In line with Sontag’s idea, the exhibition evolved over the course of the tour as Leibovitz photographed women in each of the host cities, incorporating the new portraits into the exhibition. A series of public talks hosted by Leibovitz, Gloria Steinem, Amy Richards, and others highlighted global and local women’s rights issues. Topics included women in leadership, women in media, violence against women, women in business, women’s work and economic independence, and women and social justice.

The exhibition was free and drew more than 175,000 visitors.

TOUR