Photo: Nadine Ijewere / Vogue
Tuesday morning, Vogue revealed his April cover starring Selena Gomez. It was filmed by Nadine Ijewere, a London photographer, who captured the superstar with a sense of casual elegance, her hair waving in the wind. Although this was not the first time that Gomez graced the brilliant American, it was the first time that Ijewere filmed a cover for the publication. As a woman of Jamaican-Nigerian descent, this makes her the first black woman to photograph a cover of American Vogue.
“As a young black woman, I never imagined that one day I would have the opportunity to record a cover for American Vogue, ”Ijewere, who has recorded spreads for the magazine in the past, wrote in a post on his personal Instagram today. Although women make up the majority of fashion consumers, men still have a disproportionate amount of power in the industry, from designers and executives in charge of fashion houses, to photographers and stylists working behind the scenes. And as custodians of brands like Vogue began to heed the calls for diversity, they historically turned to black men first.
“When I was studying, there was hardly any black photographer in this industry,” Ijewere told British Vogue in 2018, when she became the first black woman to make a cover for that magazine as well. “I feel that in doing so, I am proving to younger girls of similar backgrounds that it is possible,” she continued. “It also looks like part of a broader shift in our culture to include a lot more diversity, both behind the camera and in front of it.”
“I am very honored to be able to work with my sister Gabriella Karefa-Johnson,” added Ijewere in his Instagram post on Tuesday, referring to the prominent stylist, who was the fashion editor in history – and who became the first black woman styling a Vogue cover with their work in the January 2021 edition. “I hope this will encourage black women that there is room for us to occupy this industry.”