Beyonce Knowles shared the highly anticipated cover shot from her U.S. Vogue magazine interview. The basic photo shoot consists of the pop singer posing in front of a backdrop of bedsheets in an open field.
Beyonce chose 23-year-old Atlanta photographer Tyler Mitchell to shoot the cover and inside layout. Mitchell is the first Black photographer to shoot a cover for Vogue.
“Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like,” Beyonce wrote of her reason for choosing Mitchell over the more experienced Black photographers who helped put Atlanta on the national hip-hop map.
Beyonce said she wanted the cover shoot to reflect her new, curvy figure after nearly losing her life giving birth to twins Sir and Rumi last year.
She said she had to undergo an emergency caesarean section to deliver the twins after she was diagnosed with toxemia, a serious blood infection caused by toxins released by colonizing bacteria.
The mother-of-3 also described signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, the same condition that reality star Kim Kardashian suffered from when she carried daughter North West to term.
Preeclampsia is characterized by moderate to severe swelling in the lower extremities caused by fluid retention in the blood. The condition is potentially fatal if the fetus is not aborted to save the mother’s life.
In other words, the 36-year-old claims she nearly died during a high-risk pregnancy.
“I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies’ health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section,” she shared.
“After the C-section, my core felt different. It had been major surgery. Some of your organs are shifted temporarily, and in rare cases, removed temporarily during delivery. I am not sure everyone understands that. I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be.”
The “Crazy in Love” hitmaker insists that becoming a mother to twins is evidence of a gift from a higher power.
“I come from a lineage of broken male-female relationships, abuse of power, and mistrust,” she explained, adding that she recently learned that she is descended from a slave owner who married a slave.
“I questioned what it meant and tried to put it into perspective. I now believe it’s why God blessed me with my twins. Male and female energy was able to coexist and grow in my blood for the first time.”
