Leibovitz's passion for art was born out of her mother's engagement with dance, music, and painting. The family moved frequently with her father's duty assignments, and she took her first pictures when he was stationed in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. Air Force of Romanian-Jewish heritage and her mother was a modern dance instructor of Estonian-Jewish heritage.

Her father was a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. 3.4.2 LeBron James / King Kong photoshootīorn in Waterbury, Connecticut, on October 2, 1949, Anna-Lou Leibovitz is the third of six children of Marilyn Edith (née Heit) and Samuel Leibovitz.