'Cumberland Island tableau, 2024' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
Seven years after his image of Beyoncé made the cover of American Vogue, Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS has changed the face of portraiture and fashion photography.
Now, a book celebrating the Atlanta-born artist offers a survey of his work that also includes film, textiles and sculpture.
Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real coincides with a solo exhibition of Mitchell’s work at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, on view until 25 January 2026.
You know you’ve made it when Dame Anna Wintour, the chief of all things fashion – and global editorial director of Vogue – writes the foreword to your book. In a survey of Mitchell’s early career, she reflects on commissioning the Beyoncé cover in 2018 and the impact the artist has had since.
“Across his portraits and still lifes, the subjects of Tyler’s photographs appear to inhabit a world of his own brilliant creation, shaped by themes of memory, nature, community and freedom,” she writes.
“The terrific care that he applies to his artmaking was evident enough in 2018, when Tyler took on his auspicious first assignment for Vogue US – our September cover story with Beyoncé. Even then, at just 23, he was impressively self-possessed and very, very clear about his priorities as an artist.
“‘For so long, Black people have been considered things,’ he said at the time. ‘With my work I’m looking to revitalise and elevate the Black body.’”
Here, we share six images from the book Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real.
'Ancestors, 2021' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
'Chrysalis, 2022' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
'Curtain call, 2018' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
'New horizons II, 2022' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
'Shine, 2024' by Tyler Mitchell HonFRPS
Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real is published by Aperture. An exhibition of the same name is at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, until 25 January 2026.
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