Beyoncé Got Vogue to Hire First Ever Black Photographer To Shoot Magazine Cover
Beyoncé may be gracing the September issue of Vogue - but with it, she also brings a historic first.
Beyoncé may be gracing the September issue of Vogue - but with it, she also brings a historic first.
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Vogue has always been famous - sometimes more for its cover, than for its content.
And while Vogue has been pretty diverse in its inclusion of different races on its cover --Beverly Ann Johnson was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in August 1974, Edward Enninful became the first black editor-in-chief of British Vogue in its 100-year history in 2017; there was something that was still missing.
So when the magazine's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, gave Beyoncé full control of the September 2018 cover for Vogue, the pop-singer and culture icon decided to hire the first-ever black photographer for the issue.
Vogue had never hired a black photographer to shoot its cover before this.
Beyoncé's last cover, which came out three years ago was shot by Mario Testino. This time, the September issue will be shot by a 23-year-old photographer called Tyler Mitchell.
Tyler, according to a Huffington Post article, is a New York University graduate and became popular after his work was featured on Instagram. He has over 40,000 Instagram followers which include celebrities like Rose McGowan and Naomi Campbell. He has even shot for Teen Vogue for their #NeverAgain cover.
“I depict black people and people of color in a really real and pure way,” Mitchell had told The New York Times in an interview, last December. “There is an honest gaze to my photos.”
At 23, the photographer has also shot for Marc Jacobs and Ray Ban.
Vogue may not have had any black photographer yet to shoot their covers, and Beyoncé may have pulled personal strings to get them to hire Tyler, but with his long list of accomplishments, maybe Tyler is perhaps best equipped to shoot this cover more than an older, experienced photographer would be.
Twitter is in full appreciation of this move by Beyoncé.
How the cover turns out we'll only have to wait till September to find out, as sources say that it may even be the last issue of Vogue with editor-in-chief Anna-Wintour, who has directed a lot of covers so far in her time as editor.
And while Vogue has been pretty diverse in its inclusion of different races on its cover --Beverly Ann Johnson was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in August 1974, Edward Enninful became the first black editor-in-chief of British Vogue in its 100-year history in 2017; there was something that was still missing.
So when the magazine's editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, gave Beyoncé full control of the September 2018 cover for Vogue, the pop-singer and culture icon decided to hire the first-ever black photographer for the issue.
Vogue had never hired a black photographer to shoot its cover before this.
Beyoncé's last cover, which came out three years ago was shot by Mario Testino. This time, the September issue will be shot by a 23-year-old photographer called Tyler Mitchell.
Thinking bout 2017! pic.twitter.com/iouyVfKK4W
— Tyler Mitchell (@Tyler_Mitchell_) December 30, 2016
Tyler, according to a Huffington Post article, is a New York University graduate and became popular after his work was featured on Instagram. He has over 40,000 Instagram followers which include celebrities like Rose McGowan and Naomi Campbell. He has even shot for Teen Vogue for their #NeverAgain cover.
#EmmaGonzalez, Sarah Chadwick, Nza-Ari Khepra, and Jaclyn Corin. The new faces of gun reform by me for the cover of @TeenVogue A post shared by Tyler Mitchell (@tylersphotos) on
“I depict black people and people of color in a really real and pure way,” Mitchell had told The New York Times in an interview, last December. “There is an honest gaze to my photos.”
At 23, the photographer has also shot for Marc Jacobs and Ray Ban.
Vogue may not have had any black photographer yet to shoot their covers, and Beyoncé may have pulled personal strings to get them to hire Tyler, but with his long list of accomplishments, maybe Tyler is perhaps best equipped to shoot this cover more than an older, experienced photographer would be.
Twitter is in full appreciation of this move by Beyoncé.
It’s amazing, and embarrassing for them, that Vogue has never before had a Black photographer work on their cover. And Beyonce changed that, not Vogue.
— Touré (@Toure) July 30, 2018
buried lede: theres never been a black photographer for the cover?! https://t.co/FTg7mt0G1K — Rawan (@rawan) July 30, 2018
How the cover turns out we'll only have to wait till September to find out, as sources say that it may even be the last issue of Vogue with editor-in-chief Anna-Wintour, who has directed a lot of covers so far in her time as editor.