Lemonada

Lemonada

This is Talk Easy. I'm Stan Forgo, so welcome to the show.

Today, artist, photographer, and filmmaker, Tyler Mitchell.

At just 23 years old, Mitchell made history as the first black photographer to shoot the cover of American Vogue.

The now iconic images featured a very regal Beyonce perched on a throne in a floral headpiece, a nod to the bygone era of Renaissance portraiture. A year later in 2019,

a photo from that same editorial was acquired into Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection.

At the time of the momentous announcement, Mitchell wrote that, quote,

A year ago today we broke the floodgates open. Since then, it was important to spend the whole year running through them,

making sure every piece of the gate was knocked down.

In the intervening six years, he's continued to do just that.

His work has been exhibited in galleries around the world.

He's collaborated with dozens of brands and publications, including Louis Vuitton,

Louave, Mark Jacobs, Vanity Fair, W., and the Wall Street Journal. He's also published his stunning debut monograph entitled, I Can Make You Feel Good, which came out at the height of the

pandemic and served for many, I think, as a window

into a life full of friends and sunshine and seemingly clean air, that at that time felt

pretty irretrievable.

Mitchell first came on Talk Easy around the book's release back in 2020. But he joins us this week with his

latest project, ghost images, an exhibition of new works at the Goghian Gallery, which you can

now see in New York City through April 5th. I went to the opening reception of the show, and I have to

say it was amazing, not just in its

artistry, but also in the way that Tyler has really inspired this next generation to pick

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