Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is on the cover of the February 2021 issue of Vogue, but the controversy over the photo selected for the cover obscured the magazine’s debut. The cover photo, which started circulating on social media late Saturday, shows Harris with his arms crossed, wearing a dark suit and Converse sneakers, his trademark, in front of a pink and green background – an ode to the Harris fraternity Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The magazine later released an additional photo, a portrait of Harris wearing a light blue suit, which a source familiar with the photo shoot told CBS News that it was the combined image that would be featured on the cover.
“Harris and Vogue’s advisors understood that the blue suit / gold background would be the cover photo. Not to mention the Harris team, Vogue switched to the pink / green photo that the vice president-elect team did not agree with. ” said the source.
Another source described Harris’ team as being “taken by surprise” when the cover was released.
According to the source, an image showing Harris in his Converse sneakers was originally intended to be used as a smaller photo that would be featured in Vogue’s own story.
Both photos in question were taken by the famous photographer Tyler Mitchell. Mitchell, 26, became the magazine’s first African-American photographer to make a cover for Vogue in the magazine’s more than 125 years of history when he photographed singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter for the September 2018 issue.
A Mitchell representative did not respond to a request for comment, but tweeted the cover of the light blue suit.
“The Vogue team loved the images Tyler Mitchell took and felt the more informal image captured by Vice President-elect Harris’ authentic and accessible nature – which we consider to be one of the hallmarks of the Biden / Harris administration,” said a spokesman for the Vogue to CBS Notícias and added: “To respond to the seriousness of this moment in history and the role it plays in the leadership of our country, we are digitally celebrating her images and covers”.
In addition, a source said the Harris team and the magazine “collaborated closely on all creative decisions”.
For Harris, who made history in November when he became the first black and South Asian American to be elected vice president, gracing the cover of Vogue meant sending a message to young black men.
“There are not many black women, let alone black and South Asian women, who decorate the covers of these luxury magazines,” a well-known source told CBS News. “[For Harris], it was important for boys and girls, people of color, to see that this is possible. “
The story, written by Alexis Okeowo, features an interview with Harris and follows Harris in Pennsylvania during one of his last campaign days on the Monday before election day.
This is not the first time that Vogue has been criticized for the way it photographs black people. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, said she admitted this during the summer of 2020, saying in a company-wide internal memo: “I want to clearly say that I know Vogue hasn’t found enough ways to elevate and make space for editors black people, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We also make mistakes in publishing images or stories that hurt or were intolerant. I take full responsibility for these mistakes. “
After the cover first appeared online on Saturday night, there were a series of angry reactions, including from some media personalities.
Danielle Garrand contributed to this report.