Photography Collection

By Dareh Gregorian
With a deadline to repay a $24 million loan fast approaching, legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz scored a minor victory against her creditor in court yesterday. Leibovitz had been facing a deadline this week to respond to a lawsuit against her by Art Capital, the company she borrowed $24 million from in hopes of crawling out of debt. In a ruling yesterday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried OK'd Leibovitz's request to have another month to answer the suit, which seeks a declaration that Art Capital is her exclusive photo agent and that the company has access to her real-estate properties so they can show them to potential buyers. If she can't work out a deal with Art Capital, she may either go into bankruptcy or lose her properties and picture catalog to the company. A representative for Art Capital declined comment. Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Leibovitz, said only that the two sides were trying to resolve their differences.