In WISH THIS WAS REAL (Aperture, $65), Tyler Mitchell, perhaps best known as the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue, which he did just over seven years ago at the age of 23, tells tender stories of relationships, of nature and of play.
These photos — a number of them shot in pastoral settings in Georgia, where Mitchell grew up — feel like short films, loving chronicles of families and groups of friends. As he explains in a lengthy interview with the multimedia artist Rashid Johnson featured in the book: “That’s how my photographs of the South operate — not as straightforward documents, but as ruminations on my upbringing, memories, personal history and Black relationships to landscape in both psychological and abstract ways.”
The reflection of a boy submerged in a lake with a cluster of colorful balloons creates a fantastical scene. Adolescent friends sitting in green, green grass are photographed at a distance, through a frame of picnic-patterned gingham. Scenes of young people embracing, intertwining and posing often include layered fabrics and incorporate aspects of the natural world around them, a mix of serious and playful moments.
While Mitchell continues to work with Vogue — in addition to his regal portraits of Beyoncé for the magazine’s September 2018 issue, he also photographed Kamala Harris and the actress Ayo Edebiri for later covers — he recently shot the artful 30-page photo spread featured in the catalog for “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” a recent display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“Wish This Was Real” mixes Mitchell’s personal work with rural and urban scenes of Black life in London, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Los Angeles — images that he says “aren’t just about joy. They’re layered with a sense of interiority and transcendence, as well as transgression.” The images can also be seen in a solo exhibition at Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, running until the end of January.
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