Speaking of Beyoncé…Kennedi Carter made history by becoming the youngest person to shoot the cover of British Vogue. At 21 years old Kennedi was the photographer for Beyoncé’s December 2020 cover. Kennedi is a native of North Carolina and shared with the 104-year-old magazine that she was surprised when she got the job. “It feels like it dropped out the sky,” Kennedi explained. “I’m 21…I haven’t really had many opportunities like this.” I mean if you come out of the gate shooting a cover for Beyoncé on British Vogue, methinks the future looks bright.
Kennedi was handpicked by Edward Enninful, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, and Beyoncé who requested a woman of color for the project. It should be noted that this isn’t the first time Beyoncé has been key in providing a platform for a young black talent. In 2018 Beyonce recruited Tyler Mitchell, 23, to photograph her for the Vogue cover. Tyler made history as the publication’s first Black cover photographer.
Kennedi described her fine art photography as a display of “overlooked beauties of the Black experience.”
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to do something at this level unless I was older, with many years in the game,” she went on to explain. “This is for people at the pinnacle of their careers.”
She is currently a senior at University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is an African American studies major. She told British Vogue that during the two-day shoot she kept her nerves at bay and was able to fully enjoy the experience. She did her due diligence in researching how Beyoncé works and was pleasantly surprised by how much control she was given.
“I had underestimated how much she’s willing to submit herself to a vision and truly become someone else’s muse,” Carter said.
(Photo courtesy of Beyoncé’s IG @beyonce)
She went on to explain how admirable it was that Beyoncé was able to “control her own narrative” and beyond that, Beyoncé was “just so, so nice.”
“It’s really amazing that she’s using her influence to be able to give young artists this experience, and allowing their voices to be heard,” Carter said. “She’s opening the door for others.”