Step into this unstoppable photographer’s black utopia
Tyler Mitchell
Tyler Mitchell was just 23 when he shot Beyoncé for the September stuff Larry Clark and Ryan McGinley would make,” he reflects. 2018 issue of Vogue. This act propelled the Brooklyn-based “I very seldom saw the same for black people in images — or at filmmaker and photographer into the headlines for being the first least in the photography I knew of then.” black photographer to shoot a cover in the US magazine’s 126-year His work has featured in Dazed, Document Journal and history — and the youngest to do so as well. Since then he hasn’t Nataal, while he continues to work with Vogue. Publishing had time to look back, as his star continues to rise majestically. El Paquete, a book of photography capturing skate culture in This fresh talent makes use of pastel shades and natural Havana, he has also shown as part of Red Hook Labs, Artsy and light to capture young black people in bucolic surroundings and Aperture Foundation exhibitions, and this year enjoyed his debut against beautiful backdrops. Hoping to redress the balance away solo show at Foam in Amsterdam. from the negative portrayals of people of colour in the media, his images project his subjects as delicate and light-hearted. “I would very often come across sensual, young, attractive white models (Clockwise from top left) UNTITLED (HAT), 2018. BOYS OF WALTHAMSTOW, 2018. running around being free and having so much fun — the kind of UNTITLED (TWO GIRLS EMBRACE), 2018. UNTITLED (TOPANGA, CA I), 2017.
UPFRONT
Photography TYLER MITCHELL
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