Rapper Megan Thee Stallion is on the March cover of Harper’s Bazaar, but her fans are quite disappointed by the low-key image, adding it to a growing list of prominent black women whose recent magazine covers have sparked speech about how their dynamism is minimized .
The 26-year-old MC “Savage” didn’t seem to mind, however, and shared the photos on her Instagram account on Friday. She captioned the images “INSTOPPABLE 💪🏾🔥 HOTTIES IM ON THE COVER OF @harpersbazaarus”, and many of her followers praised her natural appearance and impeccable finish.
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2:27 pm, February 19, 2021 An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to photographer Collier Schorr as “he” and “his” instead of “she” and “she”.
She apparently reviewed and helped edit the photos, Collier Schorr, the photographer who took them, revealed not long after the images lit up social media.
But that adulation was not conveyed in other comments about the photos. In fact, the criticisms differed drastically from the elated nature of the magazine’s cover story about Megan being at the top of her artistic game, finishing college and “defending her right to be young, black and free”.
Instagram and Twitter users called photographer Schorr’s minimalist photo shoot boring, dull and messy – despite Samira Nasr’s haute couture style that featured Megan as a model for Alaïa, Chanel, Prada and Saint Laurent.
Likewise, Vogue was recently dragged onto the cover photo of Vice President Kamala Harris and on the cover of last year with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
In July, Vanity Fair was briefly celebrated for enlisting Dario Calmese as the first black photographer to make a cover for the magazine. But Calmese’s stunning photos of Oscar winner Viola Davis were quickly criticized when he revealed that the cover image was a recreation of “The Scourged Back”, a harrowing 1863 photograph of a previously enslaved man.
It is unclear what inspired Schorr for Harper’s Bazaar, although it was clear that some fans were not buying what she was selling.
A Twitter user wrote that the magazine should be “ashamed” for making “a vibrant young woman look all faded” and accused the professional photographer of taking worse photos than selfies. Others called for Schorr to resign.
“The quality of the photos could have been better,” wrote a commentator in the Shade Room post. Another commentator said: “Something is wrong”, while someone else commented “What doesn’t even look like Meg”
Representatives for Megan Thee Stallion and Harper’s Bazaar did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Times.
In a statement posted to her Instagram account on Friday, Schorr said the rapper participated in editing the images after taking them.
“The most remarkable photo-making experience with Megan Thee Stallion, who discussed each photo and edited it with me,” wrote Schorr. “In charge of her autototal collaboration as it should be so that together we can make new images of her at this moment in her life. @Samiranasr’s style allowed for all the game and exploration. Thank you for working that way. Sharing views. “
The general consensus praised the way Schorr preserved Megan’s natural appearance. But still others dragged the photographer by missing the target.
By the way, Megan’s interview with writer Lauren Michele Jackson discussed the tension of being “the alter ego of the shining star” and how the artist has been experimenting with a smoother and more natural approach to her makeup: “Nobody can tell me how to do it the hot girl, ”said the rapper.
The interview is the most recent of the traumatic and transformative year of the master of ceremonies “Hot Girl Summer” and “WAP”, which comes just before she majored in health administration and competed for the Grammy for best new artist next month .
“I’m realizing that I don’t need to be totally glamorous every time you see me, because I’m just getting more comfortable with myself and more comfortable with my skin,” said Megan in the interview. “I know I’m a person that everyone looks at, and they think, ‘Oh, Megan, she is a confident woman. She is so strong. ‘But you have to go through things to become that person. “
Jackson wrote on his profile: “Your control has been hard won. She may not always decide which narratives follow her image, but the Megan we see is the Megan she wants to be. “
And yet it doesn’t seem like the version that fans expect to see. Here are more reactions to the Harper’s Bazaar pictorial.