Obama on the cover of Vanity Fair

Annie Leibovitz wasn’t the only proud American to bring a camera to President Barack Obama’s historic inauguration. Over the last two years, Obama has seen millions of flashes, and his face has been digitized and disseminated across the Internet. While it’s conceivable many of America’s first citizens didn’t know what George Washington looked like, the 44th president is recognized in the farthest reaches of the planet. Yet there are startlingly few iconic photographs of him. A picture merely registers the light bouncing off a face; a portrait must draw character from deep within. Leibovitz’s painterly cover shot of Obama, taken shortly after he announced his candidacy, in early 2007 (we had a hunch), is just such a memorable image.

Read more on the Vanity Fair site.