In this era of declining magazine circulation and budgets, it can be hard to remember that magazine covers were once one of the most powerful cultural memes around. Journalist Matt Haber recently tweeted out a fantastic thread looking at influential magazine covers and the subsequent covers that they influenced – many of which harken back to the golden age of George Lois Esquire covers and to Annie Liebovitz’s often controversial images.
The Vanity Fair Demi Moore pregnant cover shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz is one of the best know and most copied magazine covers of all time. It was praised by some for presenting the the very pregnant Moore as an image of beauty and criticized by others for implying that women were obliged to always be sexy, even just before giving birth. This cover was also one of the first to be covered up in grocery store check out lines so it didn’t offend customers.
The inspiration covers here are all from George Lois’s incredible work as cover art director at Esquire in the 1960s. Even today they stand out.
The image of a naked Yoko Ono clinging to a dressed-in-black John Lennon taken the morning of the day Lennon was assassinated is undoubtedly Annie Leibovitz’s most famous magazine cover.
The July 21, 2008, cover of the New Yorker may be my favorite ever. Embracing every conspiracy/fantasy about the Obamas during the 2008 presidential election, it received criticism from both liberals and conservatives alike. Like so many of the best magazine covers, artist Barry Bitt left the interpretation and meaning of it to the viewer.
Both of these covers echo back to the legendary last photo shoot of Marilyn Monroe by Bert Stern.