On Tuesday, singer SZA took to Twitter to put a publication on semi-blast for declining her request to have a Black photographer capture her image during a photo shoot.
I requested a black photographer for a cover n the mag told me no lol its 2021.. and almost Juneteenth . Respectfully I can’t do it ???
— SZA (@sza) May 25, 2021
“I requested a Black photographer for a cover [and] the mag told me no lol. It’s 2021… and almost Juneteenth. Respectfully I can’t do it,” SZA tweeted.
Of course, the social media mavens eager to (rightfully) drag a problematic business wanted to know the name of the publication. SZA refused to identify them because apparently, exposing racist institutions is not her “vibe.”
Das not my vibe but there’s TOO many elite black creatives rn to not allow it. https://t.co/mLnkVQr2uH
— SZA (@sza) May 25, 2021
Although calling the publication out without actually calling them out was a bit of an outrage tease, it reminded us all that magazines have a long way to go in terms of equality. Print media has a dreadful history when it comes to diversity within the photography ranks and SZA is one of many Black celebrities to experience it.
In 2018, Tyler Mitchell made history when he became the first Black photographer in Vogue’s history. At the time, the magazine had been in existence for 125 years. He shot Beyonce for the popular September issue. It never should have taken well over a century for Vogue to have a Black anything.
Since then, the magazine has come under fire for poorly created and badly-lit images of Black icons like Vice President Kamala Harris and Simone Biles.
In response to The Shade Room’s Instagram post on the matter, SZA stopped by to share more thoughts.
“It’s not deep I jus like the way my ppl SEE me,” the singer wrote.
View this post on Instagram
Of course, the comments were filled with Black photographers shooting their photography shot at SZA and the occasional Connor whining about why Black people can ask for Black creatives but white people can’t ask for white ones.
damn she turned down a worker who wasn’t her skin tone, i feel like there’s a word for this
— ballerboy420 (@willLeman1) May 26, 2021
White person: “I only want to work with a white person.” -Racist Black Person: “I only want to work with a black person.” -Vibes
— Larry Rocket (@Larry2themoon) May 27, 2021
Glad you stood your ground! I’m LA based and I’d love to work with you sometime. Here’s my website – https://t.co/2EKwuwTAh2 ?
pic.twitter.com/pQGnmY3E1j
— Odogwu ? (@obislens) May 25, 2021
It sucks that black celebrities can’t even have the option to pick their photographer. If you ever need one, you can email my agency at hello@sequoiafilms.us pic.twitter.com/UWg7B9Pplb
— IG: malik.jpg (@malik_jpg) May 26, 2021
At this point, we just want the name. While SZA was right to speak up in the face of injustice, nothing beats a positive identification of the suspect.
