Leibovitz’s photographs are what happens when Blackness is seen through a white gaze incapable of capturing its true beauty
“A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people,” Annie Leibovitz has said. Yet if you were looking at any of her portraits of Black women, you’d have a hard time seeing that love.
Last week, the famed Vogue photographer shared a sneak peek from the magazine’s September issue, which features a profile of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. The images were a disaster, and the backlash on social media was just as chaotic, with Twitter users fuming over yet another failed attempt by Leibovitz to photograph Black women properly.
Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist
