Tyler Mitchell opens his exhibition “Wish This Was Real” in Switzerland for the first time

From his early portraits and videos to the major influences that nourish his art, the exhibition “Wish This Was Real” by the famous American photographer Tyler Mitchell opens its doors this Friday at the Photo Elysée museum in Lausanne.

Until August 17, Photo Elysée will be showcasing Tyler Mitchell’s work, one of the rising stars of American photography. After stopping off in Berlin and Helsinki in 2024, the artist's solo exhibition continues its journey through Europe with a stop in Switzerland, before heading to Paris next fall.
At just 29 years old, Tyler Mitchell - who counts Hailey Bieber, Kaia Gerber and Emily Ratajkowski among his Instagram followers - has established himself as a leading artist, photographer and filmmaker in contemporary art. The young American is also known as “the photographer of the stars”. In 2018, he made history by immortalizing Beyoncé for US Vogue, becoming, at the age of 23, the first black photographer to make the magazine cover. Three years later, he shot the portrait of Kamala Harris in casual attire for the cover of the same title. Since then, his photographs have appeared in the biggest international fashion publications, such as i-D, Dazed, Le Monde and Vanity Fair.

Guided by major figures in contemporary African-American art such as Deborah Willis, the young artist creates intimate portraits and scenes that celebrate the beauty of black subjects in the fashion world with strong cinematic influences.

His talent for directing has also earned him the attention of the biggest fashion houses: in 2019, Simone Rocha and Moncler trusted him with a short film showcasing their collaboration, followed in 2021 by Loewe's perfume campaign, and more recently by Ferragamo's for its fall-winter 2023 collection. Last December, his creativity was saluted with the Isabella Blow Award at the British Fashion Council Fashion Awards, a recognition of his influence on the evolution of the fashion landscape.

Wish This Was Real thus offers new perspectives on the artist's favorite themes and allows visitors to discover three worlds imbued with his utopian vision. The tour begins with the piece “Lives/Liberties”, which highlights the artist's first portraits, videos and fashion photographs, then continues with the theme “Postcolonial/Pastoral”, exploring a postcolonial idyll where heavenly reveries are nuanced by the reality of history and questions of social identity. “In this piece there is a mixture of photos that are more or less well known, some have been published in Vogue or i-D while others have never been published and are just photos that I have kept for myself,” Tyler Mitchell explained in the press conference. At the heart of the exhibition is an installation called “Altars/Acres” that pays tribute to the artists who inspire and influence Mitchell's work and with whom he engages in an intergenerational dialogue. His work thus naturally follows in the footsteps of iconic figures such as Gordon Parks, Carrie Mae Weems and Roy DeCarava, photographers who also immortalized black communities. Finally, the immersion ends with the piece “Family/Fraternity”, which focuses on the resilience and affirmation of black communities through portraits of black families, often close to the young artist.
With Wish This Was Real, Tyler Mitchell invites the spectator to dive into a vision where the idea of joy, happiness and connection between black people, younger generations and families is magnified. The exhibition oscillates between dream and reality, questioning our perception of the world and the desire for a future where these moments of harmony could become a reality.