Annie Leibovitz photographs OpenAI's Sam Altman in Caspar David Friedrich-inspired portrait for Vanity Fair.

Annie Leibovitz has photographed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for the cover of 2026 “New Establishment” issue of Vanity Fair, accompanying a two-part interview with the magazine. The cover portrait depicts Altman from behind, hands on hips, surveying a foggy coastline from a cliff’s edge. The photograph is accompanied by a line of text reading, “Sam Altman sees the future—are we in it?” The composition appears to be a restaging of German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich ‘s iconic 1818 painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog , now held in the collection of the Hamburger Kunsthalle.