Celebrated photographer and filmmaker Tyler Mitchell presents Wish This Was Real, a decade-spanning exploration of Black beauty, leisure, and liberation through photography, video, and sculpture at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP). Known for redefining the visual language of fashion and art, Mitchell—who made history as the first Black photographer to shoot Vogue’s cover with Beyoncé at age 23—invites viewers into a dreamlike world where Black life is tender, utopian, and free.
Organized into three thematic chapters—“Lives/Liberties,” “Postcolonial/Pastoral,” and “Family/Fraternity”—the exhibition traces Mitchell’s evolution from his early reflections on youth and political unrest to lush, symbolic landscapes and intimate portrayals of kinship. His images, created across the United States, Europe, and West Africa, reveal a vision of paradise that both honors the past and imagines radiant Black futures.
Curated by Brendan Embser and Sophia Greiff, in collaboration with Clothilde Morette of the MEP, Wish This Was Real is organized by the C/O Berlin Foundation with support from Tyler Mitchell Studios and the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne.
