Leibovitz puts the focus on Ratner's NYT building.

Bruce Ratner, President & CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, announced that award-winning photographer Annie Leibovitz is documenting the construction of the new, 52-story, Renzo Piano-designed tower which will be home to The New York Times Company.

Ms. Leibovitz began photographing at the site, on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets, in July and is expected to return regularly throughout the next 24 months--during the building's construction and initial occupancy as the Times Company and companies leasing space in the building settle into their new offices beginning in early 2007.

"It's a photographer's dream to document a long-term project like this," said Leibovitz. "In this age of advanced technology, it is beautiful to see men and women workers still building skyscrapers with their own hands."

Bruce Ratner said, "The New York Times Building is a remarkable blend of art and commerce. In the course of the next two years, Renzo's acclaimed design will be transformed into a tower where many prestigious companies will conduct business. We know Annie Leibovitz's unique artistic sensibility will create legendary images."

Ms. Leibovitz's work will become the centerpiece of both a unique public art project and an innovative marketing program launched by Forest City Ratner Companies, developer of The New York Times Building, and its financial partner ING Real Estate, as they set about leasing 700,000 s/f of premiere office space on floors 28 through 50, as well as 20,000 s/f of ground-floor retail space. In the coming months, the project team will release images by Annie Leibovitz personalized for the brokerage community in a variety of nontraditional ways.

The public art component of the project--a sidewalk gallery surrounding the site--will give the estimated quarter of a million people who walk through the area every day ample opportunity to view Ms. Leibovitz's latest work, with new images unveiled to the public first at the site. Passers-by will not only be able watch the construction through peepholes, they will also be able to see--through the lens of a renowned photographer--the details of the construction as it progresses, along with portraits of the workers.

Ms. Leibovitz will be recording the people and the process involved in the creation of the building, in much the same way that the classic photographs taken by Lewis Hine and Margaret Bourke-White immortalized the construction of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building, respectively, in the 1930s. Ms. Leibovitz will be following in this photojournalistic tradition. As The New York Times Building rises, she will be climbing the girders, taking spectacular pictures: close-ups of the construction process and panoramic views of the city. Once the construction is complete, these views will be reserved for the fortunate people who work at the companies leasing space on the building's upper floors. The building is being leased by Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of CB Richard Ellis's New York Tri-State Region.

Renzo Piano's design for The New York Times Building, created in partnership with Fox & Fowle Architects, is wrapped in an energy-efficient sheath of ceramic rods which harness light to bounce it deep inside the building, reducing the need for electric lighting.

Leibovitz's lens will capture all of the nuances of the structure and the kind of details normally seen only by construction workers.