Naomi Campbell has stayed busy since the pandemic.
The supermodel who’s preparing to celebrate her 50yrs birthday this month recently started a YouTube channel tagged “No filter with Naomi” where she and other supers have candid conversations.
She’s now the cover star for Essence’s milestone issue; 50yrs in publication.
Naomi once again shows the world an untapped talent of hers; this time she shoots and styles herself for the cover shot.
Given the Coronavirus induced lockdown, Essence could not send over a team so Naomi makes her own hair, does her makeup, and shoots herself for the cover; the first time in history she’d ever do so.
Now she can add photographer and stylist to her already bulky resume.
Using her iPhone, Naomi brings readers into her life with self-portraits that range from beige flowing gown, to her in a brightly colored Ankara gown and one of her in an Ankara head wrap. Yet again another Ankara to the world moment.
Read excerpts from the magazine below
On getting the feature for Essence anniversary issue, Naomi Campbell says
“It was a very special honor and unusual experience for me to be able to shoot and style my own cover for ESSENCE’s 50th-anniversary issue” “While it was a sad reminder for me of all the people in media and production who are not able to work due to the coronavirus, it also brought me hope and encouragement to know that our people and our infrastructures are resilient.”
Also read
-Naomi Campbell New Youtube Series “No Filter With Naomi” Shares Insights To Celeb Lives
-Tiwa Savage Models For Naomi Campbell At The Annual Fashion For Relief Show
-ARISE Fashion Week Talks: Naomi Campbell, Andre Leon Talley, Liya Kebede, Lola Ogunnaike, Reni Folawiyo | April 19th – 20st
On the creative process, ESSENCE Chief Content & Creative Officer, MoAna Luu says
“Bringing this issue to life in the midst of a global pandemic represents everything that Black women are and illustrates. How we will continue to show up for them in the best and worst of times, as we have done for the past five decades,”
On Naomi’s resilience that brought the cover to life
“We are resilient and we wanted to show that resilience. The same resilience that motivated our team to make this cover happen. The same resilience that resulted in Naomi and I relying on FaceTime to talk through how this shoot would be brought to life because I couldn’t be there with her in person.”
On Naomi Campbell shooting and styling herself, she said
“Naomi shot herself with an iPhone,” Luu said. “We couldn’t send a team so, she had to do her hair, her makeup, and her styling, herself.
We were on late-night calls trying to figure out how she was going to do the shoot with her phone in her hand.
Then, we had to do a re-shoot because the photos didn’t come out how we imagined. So, there were technical challenges. There were human challenges, but Naomi did it all without asking any questions, she never quit.
She’s never waited for people to do for her; she’s created her own opportunities. She’s been a pioneer in so many ways and now she’s a pioneer in ESSENCE history because she’s completely and literally controlling her own narrative in this issue from the cover to the in-book story”
For your daily dose of tech, lifestyle and trending content, make sure to follow Plat4om on Twitter @Plat4omLive, on Instagram @Plat4om, on LinkedIn at Plat4om, and on Facebook at Plat4om. You can also email us at info@plat4om.com. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel HERE.