Quil Lemons Is Only 23 Years Old But Is Breaking Barriers Through His Official Oscars Portraits
Although he’s only 23-years-old, photographer Quil Lemons broke down barriers at The Oscars for being one of the first young black men to capture the winners at the 93rd annual ceremony. For this year’s awards, Lemons had the daunting task of photographing winners and nominees on a global scale due to the impact of COVID. Lemons worked closely with Vanity Fair’s Instagram Portrait Studio in partnership with Facebook and AMPAS to produce many of the pictures seen circulating social media today.
Lemons told Vanity Fair, “At the beginning of COVID, I mean, there was no work. I was like, “Am I a photographer anymore?” Like, “We had a good run here.” Because there were no shoots happening.” He continued, “Then, through that time, I really got to sit with myself and reflect on what I wanted to do as a photographer and what that meant.”
After landing his role, Lemons took time to review the work of previous Oscars photographer Mark Seliger for inspiration and groundwork. But Lemons is fiercely, proudly black, and wanted to celebrate his identity in the photos that he shot.
“I’m tapping into Irving Penn and Helmut Newton, who are iconic photographers that kind of give you a blueprint for framing. But then also tapping into black photographers that are the blueprint in a very different way, when it comes to my blackness and how I bring that to an image,” Lemons explained in his interview.
Yall are so quick! Lmao y’all are getting them posted faster than me! https://t.co/SEkHsOib7Z
— QUIL LEMONS (@QUILLEMONS) April 26, 2021
Lemons is no stranger to breaking barriers, he photographed Billie Eilish for the March 2021 Vanity Fair cover, and became the youngest person to do so.
Be sure to follow Lemons on Instagram to see the latest of his work.
Writer | @IlanaDavis24
