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Image by Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair

The 35-year-old magazine Vanity Fair has enlisted its first Black photographer, Dario Calmese, for its latest cover featuring Viola Davis.

The publication recently released images from the photoshoot and the cover story with Davis. In a letter by Editor-in-Chief Radhika Jones, she penned a message about systemic racism plaguing the publication industry and beyond.

Jones also shared that this was the magazine’s first cover shot by a Black photographer. “This is his first major magazine cover, and we celebrate him and honor his vision at this heightened moment in American history,” Jones wrote.

“[Vanity Fair] had a problem in the past with putting Black women on the covers. But that’s a lot of magazines, that’s a lot of beauty campaigns. There’s a real absence of dark-skinned Black women,” Davis, herself, addressed the matter in the cover story.

“When you couple that with what’s going on in our culture, and how they treat Black women, you have a double whammy. You are putting us in a complete cloak of invisibility,” the actress added.

Calmese described the photograph and concept as a “re-creation of the Louis Agassiz slave portraits taken in the 1800s—the back, the welts.”



“This image reclaims that narrative,” Calmese emphasized of the cover shot, and added that it intends to “[transmute] the white gaze on Black suffering into the Black gaze of grace, elegance, and beauty.”

Earlier this week, Vogue magazine faced backlash for featuring a cover of Simone Biles that was shot by Annie Leibovitz. Many expressed their disappointment of the magazine not hiring a Black photographer and the way the editing work had missed the mark in showcasing Biles in a flattering light.

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Presenting our July/August cover star: @ViolaDavis. Last month, the Oscar winner took to the streets to protest the death of George Floyd—but she’s no stranger to fighting for what’s right. As a Black woman in Hollywood, she’s spent her career doing it: “My entire life has been a protest,” Davis says. “My production company is my protest. Me not wearing a wig at the Oscars in 2012 was my protest. It is a part of my voice, just like introducing myself to you and saying, ‘Hello, my name is Viola Davis.’” Davis was photographed by @dario.studio—the first Black photographer to shoot a Vanity Fair cover. At the link in bio, Davis speaks with V.F. about her extraordinary journey out of poverty and into the stubbornly unequal Hollywood system. Story by @soniasaraiya Photographed by @dario.studio Styled by @elizabethstewart1 Coatdress @maxmara Earrings @pomellato

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jul 14, 2020 at 4:02am PDT

Image by Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair

Viola Davis for V.F. July/August 2020. Photographs by Dario Calmese. The cover marks the first V.F. cover shot by a Black photographer. https://t.co/izJBKTFrt7 pic.twitter.com/SeUdZkQwoO

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) July 14, 2020

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In 2015, @violadavis became the first Black woman ever to win an Emmy for lead actress in a drama for ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’ In 2017, she won an Oscar for her supporting role as Rose Maxson in ‘Fences’—a part for which she also collected a Tony. Today, she is using her own production company to give young Black actors a platform—in every stage of their careers. “There’s not enough opportunities out there to bring that unknown, faceless Black actress to the ranks of the known. To pop her!” Davis tells V.F., naming other performers—Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Stewart—all “fabulous white actresses,” who have had “a wonderful role for each stage of their lives, that brought them to the stage they are now. We can’t say that for many actors of color.” Read our July/August cover story at the link in bio. Story by @soniasaraiya Photographed by @dario.studio Styled by @elizabethstewart1 Gown: @giorgioarmani Earrings: @mounserstudio Cuff: @gilesandbrother

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jul 14, 2020 at 5:05am PDT

Image by Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair

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“Not a lot of narratives are also invested in our humanity,” says @ViolaDavis, who’s set to star as Michelle Obama and blues legend Ma Rainey in upcoming projects. “They’re invested in the idea of what it means to be Black, but…it’s catering to the white audience. The white audience at the most can sit and get an academic lesson into how we are. Then they leave the movie theater and they talk about what it meant. They’re not moved by who we were.” At the link in bio, the Academy Award winner speaks to @soniasaraiya about championing Black stories, her journey to Hollywood, and what she hopes her company, JuVee Productions, will provide to young non-white actors. Story by @soniasaraiya Photographed by @dario.studio Styled by @elizabethstewart1 Gown: @alexandermcqueen Earrings: @jenniferfisherjewelry Cuff: @celine Makeup: @lorealparis

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Jul 14, 2020 at 7:09am PDT

Image by Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair



[via Peta Pixel, cover image by Dario Calmese for Vanity Fair]

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