In 1990 the famed dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov
invited Annie Leibovitz to photograph the newly formed White Oak Dance Project,
which he had established with the choreographer Mark Morris. Leibovitz, whose
mother had been a dancer, jumped at the opportunity, insisting that she stay
and photograph the dance company for several weeks. While many of Leibovitz’s
White Oak images capture elegant dancers in motion, she and Morris, who are
both gay, playfully created this gender-bending homage to Henri Rousseau’s
otherworldly painting The Dream by posing Morris reclining on a sofa, surrounded
by lush Georgian oaks and palms.