LONDON (AFP).- David Bowie was a "visual creative artist" who "curated his death" with his final album "Blackstar" and a musical, the celebrated US photographer Annie Leibovitz said Wednesday.

"He was such a visual creative artist, and I photographed him two or three times just in passing through his career, but we never did a creative sitting," said the photographer, known for her portraits of the stars.

Leibovitz was speaking at the launch of her exhibition, "Women: New Portraits", in a former power station by the River Thames in Wapping, east London.

"When someone that great passes, I just lament that I didn't have that opportunity," the 66-year-old said.

"From what I understand, these last 18 months he really curated his death, and the play 'Lazarus' and the album -- I just think that's an extraordinary thing he did as an artist, to understand he was dying and put all of himself into that."

Bowie released "Blackstar" on his 69th birthday Friday. He died two days later, having privately been battling cancer for 18 months.

Critics hailed "Blackstar" as Bowie's best work in years, a mixture of rock and jazz, with song titles including "Lazarus" and "I Can't Give Everything Away".

The video for "Lazarus" depicts Bowie levitating from a hospital bed. "Look up here, I'm in heaven," he sings.

His musical "Lazarus" opened in New York in December.



© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse