November 21, 2003 @ 4:38 pm

VX: Ten Years of VIBE Photography

Laylah A. Barrayn

This is your life in pictures urban culture. Face your enigmatic self and take a good long look. Grotesque. Vainglorious. Supreme and beautiful. Full of friction, full of grace

Being photographed for VIBE magazine is something akin to taking a cultural mug shot: you've been initiated and immortalized into the urban realm. VIBE has been in the pit, scrambling for those shots that epitomize this culture, as it continues to wildly grow worldwide. VX , created by VIBE director of photography, George Pitts, and editor-at-large Rob Kenner, takes a full frontal view of the cutting-edge photographs that have covered VIBE's pages over the past ten years. "I have a really deep-seated respect for hip hop, for putting a blue collar, working class culture in the lime light; there is something beautiful about that. People who possibly came from nothing or who had a real tentative based background can redeem their background through their sheer talent and will power," says Pitts, who has been the magazine's director of photography since its inception. Kenner seeded the idea for VX about two years ago. "We've been doing this for ten years now and there's a lot of great pictures," notes Kenner. He ran the idea past Pitts, who was a little reluctant at first. "Too much emotional baggage of going through 10 years of photographs, the relationships you deal with in taking these pictures," says Pitts. But with some persistence, Pitts warmed up to the idea and the archival mining began. "Rob had a long standing enthusiasm about the book and he got me enthusiastic about it." It took a year to compile, and also a year for Pitts to write the heartfelt essay that accompanies the photographs. Visually documenting artists of such an ever-changing culture is a great undertaking. "It is very important to photograph the artist in a way that is visually accurate and principally correct and at the same time get pictures to entertain our readers," says Pitts. Indeed, it's a mentally challenging job to do that month after month. "We have to reinvent an artist whose been photographed more than once for the magazine, we have to find a way to present them as freshly as possible and in sync with whatever way they're marketing themselves or putting across in their feeling or visions." Kenner describes the book as a visual diary. "We remember when the Beastie Boys pre-dated Eminem, when Snoop Dogg was relatively unknown, and KRS-One was highly regarded," notes Pitts. The photo compositions define the images of urban culture. There's Lil' Kim dressed as a cop reeling from the contradictions of black femaledom; Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison wearing a crown of locs; a sweaty, sexy, blinged out Nelly; a kinky Janet; an innocent Britney; and a conga beating J.Lo. And then there's an image of a straight jacketed Tupac that is symbolic of hip hop's spinning out of control. Tupac's evolution serves as a great example of an artist who's growth was documented through VIBE's lens. "Tupac Shakur," muses Pitts. "I would wager he was taken far more seriously towards the end of his career. He is now a legend, comparable to the late Kurt Cobain. But early on, the verdict wasn't in about how truly good he was as a rapper. It was critical that we photograph him in ways that were as significant as the kind of stardom that he was achieving year after year. We try to be as conscious as possible of the lyrical content, where the artist is coming from. We usually take a more sophisticated reading." When it comes to risqué imagery, VIBE has it on lock, though it's never meant to be shocking, but instead sexy. Toni Braxton's first cover shows her wearing only a sheet. "Toni's cover was a breakthrough on many levels, it was one of the most straightforward sexual images of a woman of color put on any American magazine cover. She wanted to announce her frankness through imagery, she wanted to crawl out of her shell, she had a tomboy image, she wanted to announce her adulthood," remembers Pitts. "It's humbling to think that VIBE has been there all along. Covering people when they just became famous up through becoming superstars, even when they tragically pass away," notes Kenner. "Our pictures have become a big part of their image. And that's amazing when you think about it." The photographs for VX were selected with the assistance of the magazine's photo editor, Dora Somosi. The book was designed by Gary Koepke, who is a huge force in the advertising world. As VIBE's first art director, Koepke designed the logo and gave the magazine its look. To view images from the book in our photo gallery, click here.

Article tags: VX, Ten, Years, VIBE, Photography 

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http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2003/11/vx_ten_years_vibe_photography/

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