Summary
- Tyler Mitchell’s early career survey monograph, Wish This Was Real, is now available for pre-order via Aperture
- Spanning 272 pages, the book delves deep into a decade of Mitchell’s practice, featuring a gamut of photographs alongside video and sculptural works
With a Gagosian solo, European tour and the Superfine Met catalogue in-hand, 2025 is proving to be a banner year for Tyler Mitchell, the 30-year-old artist who has already established his voice as one of the most defining amongst this generation of photographers.
Now, Mitchell is adding another notch to his belt with his second monograph, Wish This Was Real, published by Aperture. The 272-page book gathers a decade of Mitchell’s practice, venturing within and beyond his acclaimed photographic practice, and into realms of video and sculpture.
From luminous portraits printed on delicate veils of fabric to sculptural gestures toward Black intellectual heritage, the publication charts the evolution of a photographer at a crossroads between utopian possibility and the historical complexity of a nation’s past. Seared with visions of paradise, joy and beauty, Mitchell’s works expand the “imaginary of Blackness in the 21st century” alongside his long-standing provocations of self-determination and the “extraordinary radiance of the everyday.”
“To him, the true ‘magic’ of photography lies in ‘capturing something extraordinary happening in real time,’” reads the foreword, penned by Anna Wintour. “How lucky we all are to witness such a wizard at work.”
With contributions from contemporary cultural thinkers — including Wintour, Rashid Johnson and Robin Coste Lewis, among others — Wish This Was Real is now available for pre-order via Aperture for $65 USD. A French version by Atelier EXB will be published in conjunction with Mitchell’s forthcoming survey at MEP Paris, opening October 14.
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