TYLER MITCHELL A glimpse at the famed photographer’s black utopia

Step into this unstoppable photographer’s black utopia

Tyler Mitchell

Tyler Mitchell was just 23 when he shot Beyoncé for the September 2018 issue of Vogue. This act propelled the Brooklyn-based filmmaker and photographer into the headlines for being the first black photographer to shoot a cover in the US magazine’s 126-year history — and the youngest to do so as well. Since then he hasn’t had time to look back, as his star continues to rise majestically.

This fresh talent makes use of pastel shades and natural light to capture young black people in bucolic surroundings and against beautiful backdrops. Hoping to redress the balance away 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 running around being free and having so much fun — the kind of stuff Larry Clark and Ryan McGinley would make,” he reflects. “I very seldom saw the same for black people in images — or at least in the photography I knew of then.”

His work has featured in Dazed, Document Journal and Nataal, while he continues to work with Vogue. Publishing El Paquete, a book of photography capturing skate culture in Havana, he has also shown as part of Red Hook Labs, Artsy and Aperture Foundation exhibitions, and this year enjoyed his debut solo show at Foam in Amsterdam.