Viola Davis’ ‘Vanity Fair’ Cover Was Shot by a Black Photographer for the 1st Time in the Magazine’s History

History is being made! Viola Davis’ latest Vanity Fair cover was shot by a Black photographer for the first time in the magazine’s history.
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On Tuesday, July 14, the publication dropped it’s July/August 2020 issue featuring the Oscar-winning actress photographed by Dario Calmese. In the stunning image, Davis — in an open-back Max Mara coat dress — has her back to the camera as she looks over her left shoulder. But there’s a lot more to this cover than just your average fashion magazine style.
As Calmese describes it, the cover concept is “a recreation of the Louis Agassiz slave portraits taken in the 1800s — the back, the welts.” He continues, “This image reclaims that narrative, transmuting the white gaze on Black suffering into the Black gaze of grace, elegance and beauty.”