At 26 years old, Kennedi Carter already has a Vogue cover under her belt. That was shot for British Vogue in 2020 when she was 21, making her the youngest photographer to ever land a cover for the prestigious fashion magazine. The cover subject: no less a luminary than Beyoncé. Not a bad start to carving out a niche as a Black female photographer with a primary focus on Black subjects. Her identification with and understanding of Black culture creates an authentic vision of the creativity and pride inherent in the Black experience in America.

From a lookbook for shapewear brand SKIMS to covers of Essence, Glamour and Porter magazines, among others, Carter captures the aesthetics and feel of the South. Her style is grounded in accurately presenting the sociopolitical aspects of Black life, often posing her subjects in their homes and communities.

Whether she poses models in lush natural settings or urban neighborhoods, Carter chooses lighting that’s subtle and brings out their glowing skin tones. Her subjects are often reserved and dignified despite their juxtaposition with street art or simple real-life settings. Showing a level of trust and comfort, her portraits are intimate, allowing her subject’s strength, pride and individuality to flourish. There is a sense of dignity, of self-possession, sometimes of introspection in her portraits.

Representation is key to her approach to explore Black identity and expand the acceptance of diverse beauty styles. Candace Gelman, Carter’s first agent who played a pivotal role in managing her career, shares, “Kennedi is a prolific storyteller. Her work challenges stereotypes, inviting audiences to rethink their perceptions of Black life. I’m inspired by artists like her who take bold risks and use their work as a powerful tool to provoke thought and spark change.”

After the US had a Black First Lady in Michelle Obama, whose official White House portrait was painted by Black artist Amy Sherald, there have been more women of color on fashion magazine covers and inside spreads. Over the last few years, I have seen a rise in articles on makeup techniques and hair-styles centered on the appreciation of Black beauty.

When asked if she feels like there has been a greater acceptance and appreciation of the inherent beauty of women of color in the last decade or so, Carter responds, “As a Black woman growing up, my mom always had me surrounded by beautiful Black women. She would get Ebony and Jet magazines. My mom was curating my interest. It wasn’t really something I was checking for until they were on the cover. When a Black woman would be on the cover of a magazine, it would sell out in five seconds,” she says with an appreciative chuckle. “I can stand in the gravity and the importance of Black women being featured in these spaces.” Then, she adds the droll comment: “Thanks for listening to my TED Talk!”

Born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, Carter has garnered international acclaim through her portraits of what she describes as “overlooked beauties of the Black experience: skin, texture, trauma, peace, love and community,” and which she defines as “without inspection or appraisal.”

Her grandparents also provided early artistic inspiration. “My grandmother is the family archivist and photographer, and she made self-portraits of herself and her family while she was a young mother,” she says. “Her photographs were stunning.”

“I first started photography when I was in high school,” Carter recalls. “There was a photo class available to take. It was probably the only school in the area that had a darkroom. It was a great course. The tactile experience of shooting film was something that informed my process later.” She attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, majoring in African American Studies and minoring in photography, before deciding to try her hand at being a freelance photographer. “I was scrappy, doing small shoots in North Carolina and photographing my own personal work independently,” she remembers.

Carter had her first solo exhibition Kennedi Carter: East Durham Love at Durham’s 21c Museum Hotel in 2020 during the pandemic and widespread political protests. Like all her local portraits, the exhibition was a visual love letter to her community, and it set the stage for deeper explorations of the Black cultural experience through love and connection. “I was on the tail end of art school at that time and very interested in art history and the presence of Black folks in classical paintings. I created these painterly photographs with Renaissance references,” she relates.

Now, she works from a studio in downtown Durham, North Carolina. “I have my backdrops there, so I can make photos at a whim and invite people to be photographed,” Carter says. “I have a lot of photography and art books as well as books I use for research in my personal work. I have a two-year-old, so when I am not caring for him or he is at school, I am usually researching, editing or organizing my archive.

“I think my personal practice is what sets my editorial and commercial work apart,” she continues. “I am often searching to make sure the two blend well—that, regardless of what the project is, it always feels like it was made by me.”

She doesn’t rush the portrait experience and establishes trust with her subjects, never asking more of them than they are willing to give to her and her camera. “You can learn a lot about a person just by the space where they live,” Carter says. “Sometimes, the inside of a house can be a landscape of its own.”

Occasionally, she finds models on TikTok and Instagram. “I don’t think I even know what I find to be alluring in a sitter, but something clicks in my brain,” she explains. There is a cinematic quality, a certain drama to her compositions, as if a single frame sums up the entire plot. Somehow, through the alchemy of photography, she distills the quality of light and the heaviness of the atmosphere one encounters in the Deep South.

With this magic approach, Carter has made portraits of several noted celebrities. She captured Simone Biles for Glamour magazine, poet Amanda Gorman for digital platform Porter Edit and the Squad for Vanity Fair, posing representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib on a deck with a white backdrop strung between pillars, smiling and laughing while dressed in bold colors and patterns. Her portrait presented a different view of the Squad than that normally seen in the mainstream media.

Carter shoots primarily on film with medium format and 4×5 cameras but will shoot digitally when asked. “A lot of my work is made in North Carolina,” she says. “If it’s a more independent project, I start with a documentary. I typically start those with community members and elders.

“I mainly work on location, going to different places in the South,” she continues. “My editorial and commercial practice brings me to Los Angeles primarily. Occasionally, I’ll end up in New Orleans, my favorite city on earth.”

What does Carter hope to achieve with her body of work? “I want people to see what my upbringing was like; I want them to peer into my memories a bit,” she reveals. “Whether it’s more fine art or more commercial, what I’m always striving to do is search for vulnerability, honesty and truth. That’s what I’m encouraging a viewer to see in my work. My practice is trying to make photographs like windows—being able to receive the gift of entry while not being a voyeur.”

Carter admires the work of photographers Deana Lawson, Gordon Parks and Carrie Mae Weems, all of whom have also concentrated their work on Black experiences and aesthetics. She focuses on image equity “to make people feel heard, make people feel proud,” as she expresses.

Increasingly, her work has been noticed by potential subjects. “We were in search of a photographer who could capture the joy and radiance of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for her intimate memoir Lovely One,” relates Greg Mollica, VP executive art director at Random House, One World and Roc Lit Books. “After reviewing several photographers, it became clear that Kennedi had the unique ability to bring something special to this project. Justice Jackson herself agreed and wanted to give Kennedi the honor of photographing the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

“Kennedi’s work is known for its warmth, vibrancy and dreamlike quality, all of which perfectly align with the tone of the book,” Molica explains. “Her past images served as the foundation for our mood board, guiding the aesthetic of the photoshoot. From the moment Kennedi began shooting and connecting with Justice Jackson, there was a palpable magic in the air. The result was nothing short of stunning.”

Carter’s priorities have shifted over the last two years as she has become a mother, but she balances a busy shooting schedule with family. One gets the feeling that, even with her accolades, she is just getting started finding her voice and carving out her space in the field of photography. ca