Annie Leibovitz Shoots First Portraits of Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner shot by Annie Leibovitz on the cover of Vanity Fair. Photo: Vanity Fair.

It’s official: Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, is Vanity Fair‘s July cover star. Captured by photographer Annie Leibovitz (see Annie Leibovitz on Susan Sontag, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Her Bucket List) in a white bustier with flowing brunette locks, it’s an image that is likely to become an enduring symbol of the transgender movement.

Accompanying the pictorial is an interview by Buzz Bissinger, the journalist and author of the book, Friday Night Lights, who spent hundreds of hours with Jenner for the piece.

“I’m not doing this to be interesting,” Jenner told Vanity Fair. “I’m doing this to live.”

The Vanity Fair story follows months of speculation and news coverage regarding Jenner’s gender presentation. In April, the reality star and former Olympic athlete appeared on ABC to discuss her identity in a highly-publicized interview with Diane Sawyer. A month later, Jenner began shooting eight one-hour episodes for the E! network, according to the New York Times.

The Leibovitz cover—which marks the first time Jenner has appeared publicly as Caitlyn—has commanded an outpouring of support on Twitter, with celebrities including Lena Dunham, Emmy Rossum, Perez Hilton, and Wendy Williams employing the hashtag #CallMeCaitlyn.

Jenner’s new Twitter account, @Caitlyn_Jenner, went live today and already has over 500,000 followers.

Interestingly, the Jenner/Kardashian clan has a somewhat tumultuous history with Leibovitz, who was supposed to shoot Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kanye West, but allegedly backed out (see Annie Leibovitz Backed Out of Photographing Kimye Wedding, Annie Leibovitz and Kanye West Set Record Straight on Wedding Fiasco).

“As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, Jenner said in a teaser video, “I’m free.”

The July issue of Vanity Fair will hit newsstands on June 9. A preview is currently available on VanityFair.com.


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