A history-making photo of
Beyoncé is being added to the Smithsonian
National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.
The image was featured in the September 2018 issue of
Vogue and was taken by Tyler Mitchell, who became the first African American photographer ever to shoot a Vogue cover with his Beyoncé spread.
“A year ago today we broke the flood gates open,” the 24-year-old photographer wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
“Since then it was important to spend the whole year running through them making sure every piece of the gate was knocked down. And now I’m glad to share this picture is being acquired into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection.”
The Smithsonian later commented on Mitchell’s post, confirming, “We look forward to adding this new work to our collection,” before concluding the message with a bee emoji.
In addition to making history in 2018, Mitchell became one of the youngest photographers to shoot a Vogue cover at the age of 23.
“When [Beyoncé] sat down for me there was immediately the kind of comfort level you’d have with a friend, which was quite unexpected,” Mitchell previously told Vogue of the UK shoot. “You’d imagine someone as famous as Beyoncé to be protective of her image, but she was really an open book — and that’s exactly what you want as a photographer.”