Selena Gomez covers the first issue of American 'Vogue' photographed by a Black woman

Selena Gomez has been gracing the covers of Vogue magazine’s many iterations for years, making her debut on the cover of the American edition in 2017. Now Gomez has returned for the magazine’s April 2021 cover, making history not through her own appearance, but because of the photographer behind the gorgeous new image. The April 2021 cover issue was shot by Nadine Ijewere, the first Black woman to photograph a cover of American Vogue since its 129-year publication run. Of Jamaican-Nigerian descent, UK-based Ijewere has made her mark with her photo of Selena, styled in a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello dress and Cartier earrings and looking like she’s in the midst of a very expensive vacation in the tropics.

“As a young Black women I didn’t imagine that I would one day have the opportunity to shoot a cover for American Vogue,” wrote Ijewere in an Instagram post sharing one of the images she made. “I’m so honoured to have been able to work with my fellow sister @gabriellak_j. I hope this encourages Black women that there is space for us to take in this industry. Thanks also to the team for working hard during these difficult times.”

Ijewere’s history-making cover gig comes after Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour’s admission that the magazine has not been doing enough to make space for Black creatives both on its pages and behind the scenes. “I want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not found enough ways to elevate and give space to Black editors, writers, photographers, designers and other creators. We have made mistakes too, publishing images or stories that have been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibility for those mistakes,” wrote Wintour in an internal memo to staff that surfaced last summer.

Ijewere has previously worked with the magazine, becoming also the first Black woman to shoot a cover for British Vogue back in 2018 when she photographed Dua Lipa, Binx Walton and Letitia Wright. For Ijewere, photography began as a hobby — she picked up the subject as an elective in college before falling in love with the art form and giving up her plans for med school to study it full time at the London College of Fashion instead.

“Even back then,” she told British Vogue of her college career, “I had no desire to produce work that would get me a job in the industry if it failed to speak to me. I also felt like so many images that I was seeing celebrated the same kind of ‘look’ over and over again. It was during my final year that I started casting mixed-race girls who fell outside the industry norm — and that became central to my work.” To that end, early last year Ijewere collaborated with experimental hairstylist Jawara to create a gallery show celebrating Caribbean glamour. Ijewere's work has been featured in  i-D, Garage, WSJ. Magazine, Allure and more, and the photographer has worked on campaigns for Stella McCartney, Valentino, Selfridges and The Gap.

The cover and feature story on Gomez, shot in the star’s own Los Angeles backyard, features several images by Ijewere, including a sweet one of Selena serving an al fresco meal to her grandparents, which the singer shared on her own Instagram account.  

The feature interview by Jia Tolentino sees Gomez discuss (what else?) life under lockdown (when she wasn’t filming Hulu series The Only Murders in the Building, she binged Bridgerton), her Spanish-language album Revelación, her political awakening during the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement surge, and how cutting the ‘gram out of her life (an assistant maintains her Insta account) has improved her mental health. “I woke up one morning and looked at Instagram, like every other person, and I was done,” Gomez said. “I was tired of reading horrible things. I was tired of seeing other people’s lives. After that decision, it was instant freedom. My life in front of me was my life, and I was present, and I could not have been more happy about it.” We, sadly, are still pretty into the app.

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