Last week, it was revealed that 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell would become the first African American photographer to shoot a cover of Vogue. The September cover, which features Beyoncé, is already out and is available on physical and digital newsstands.
“Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world [actually] looks like,” Beyoncé says in the Vogue interview. “That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer.”
She went on to explain that it was difficult for Black people to get covers of magazines, but that she has seen barriers crumble before her very eyes.
“Imagine if someone hadn’t given a chance to the brilliant women who came before me: Josephine Baker, Nina Simone, Eartha Kitt, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, and the list goes on. They opened the doors for me, and I pray that I’m doing all I can to open doors for the next generation of talents.” she says.
