Photographing a New Justice

Lelanie Foster, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Congratulations to photographer Lelanie Foster (right), who was chosen to make the official White House portrait of newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. It unfolded extremely quickly for Foster. She had just completed a project photographing the Black women students at Harvard Law School, Justice Brown Jackson's alma mater, when she was chosen for the job. In fact, that project had been published at The New York Times only the day before.

Being chosen was "a complete shock," Lelanie told The Cut, "and then everything kind of started to settle in, and I felt all the honor and gratitude. Then came the pressure of like, All right, get this shot. I started thinking about all the things that I wanted to say in the image and all the things that I wanted to portray in it. These things come together so quickly; it’s different from other shoots where you have so much planning involved. Like, when can I scout the White House? You know what I mean?" Just getting into the White House isn't easy—she said that process took two and a half hours.

She played Sade for the shoot, because she finds it calming and "a nice vibe." Justice Brown Jackson not only approved, she even danced a little. The shoot was a family affair—the Justice's daughters helped critique and direct, looking at the computer monitor, and her husband was so moved he had tears in his eyes at one point. Lelanie had a generous 45 minutes to make the portrait.

Asked what the Justice's confirmation meant to her, Foster told Ebony, "for me, it’s just incredibly empowering. Anytime we see a Black woman, in front and in these kinds of situations, it becomes incredibly affirming. For us to see them recognized, celebrated and honored is beautiful. For me to be just a piece of that and to have spent that time with Justice Brown Jackson in this moment that celebrates her is so special. I feel like I, too, am seen and heard in this way for such a positive reason. It makes me reflect on how important this is for all Black women to see these moments exist. It’s encouraging."

The website See in Black describes Foster as "a portrait photographer from the Bronx whose work is centered in honoring the strength and beauty of Black and brown people, particularly that of women. Her projects stretch across the commercial, fashion, documentary and art worlds. Foster’s commissions include Nike, Hulu, The New York Times, Universal Pictures, BET, W Magazine, CR Fashionbook, and AnOther Magazine amongst others."

And as for Lelanie Foster's aims for her portrait: "it’s always about dignity. It’s always about poise. It’s always about strength, regalness, and reflection. That’s always my guiding light when photographing us."

The portrait was first revealed on Oprah's Instagram account and Beyoncé's official website. Here's some more of Lelanie Foster's work, mixed with personal pictures, on Instagram.

Mike

Book o' the Week

The Essential Calvin and Hobbes: a Calvin and Hobbes Treasury by Bill Watterson. I just read a dire, apocalyptic article about mental health during the pandemic, so I decided on trying an "off topic" book rec that is slightly lighter than our usual fare. If you don't appreciate it, don't worry, it's a blog. Something else will be along soon.

New Gear

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

darlene (partial comment): "I was taken back at first by the portrait, thinking it may have been a 'behind the scene' capture. Then a few days later and after I saw it is indeed the official portrait, I looked at it again, and I came back with a different feeling. Maybe you have to be a woman, or maybe you have to be from a minority that up until the recent past were probably passed over for a particular type of position or job title. I see layers in this portrait. Layers that represent getting to the next level. You will see something different for sure. Art is open to interpretation. Mine is definitely different from yours. I am female and I heard early in my career the guy gets paid more because he has a family to support. Thankfully today all the single mothers do not have to listen to that crap any longer. I think there is more meaning in this portrait than a lot of people will see. I see it for myself and I am happy the photographer and the subject are bold, beautiful and courageous enough to think outside the box. They had to be to get where they got!"

Comments

[aaron c greenman]

I'm a little perplexed and underwhelmed by the portrait.
Kentanji Brown was one year ahead of me at the same Miami high school, and we shared many friends (but were not friends ourselves). She is a truly impressive person and her accomplishments and the accomplishments of my classmates from Palmetto Senior High School always amaze me.
But the portrait doesn't - at least to me - convey really anything about her, her intelligence, her strength, her character, etc. Interested to hear other opinions. Is there a reason for the backdrop? Why a centered, symmetrical static full body length portrait with minimal focus on her facial expression? Why crop so closely to her feet, leaving significantly more space above her which has the effect of emphasizing her lack of height?
This won't sound quite right, but I read the NYTimes article first before realizing that the image was the official portrait, and after realizing it was the official portrait, came away saying to myself that I didn't really care what the photographer went through to get the shot, since the result was so underwhelming. In summary, doesn't seem to me like what was deserved in the moment.

[It's quite a fashionable style of portrait at the moment. I like it, personally. --Mike]

[c.d.embrey]

People are people. I worked in Hollywood and knew bisexual black women, lesbian
black women and straight black women. We treated each other as fellow humans. Why do we have to revert to "identity politics?" The way to equality is to treat everyone equally!

[Eric Brody]

I am privileged to know one of the Harvard Law School students she photographed for the NYT article. We are all so very proud of her and of Justice Jackson. The images in the NYT article are just stunning. At this time in history, our country badly needs Justice Jackson (if I may be political for just a moment.)

[MikeR]

Great choice for book OTW.
His commencement address at Kenyon College is worth reading,
https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/05/20/bill-watterson-1990-kenyon-speech/

For related thinking, and possibly applicable to the things we photographers do, try Elizabeth Gilbert's "Big Magic"

[Kenneth Tanaka]

I agree with Aaron Greenman’s comment. Yes, this is a fashionable style of portraiture. But it screams “fashionable style of portraiture” rather than doing the job a portrait of this nature should do; conveying anything about the subject to millions of future viewers. Instead, it says more about the photographer. Disappointing. But fashionable! (The current form of the future “quaint”.)

[Don Spady]

I am Canadian, so maybe I should not be putting my $0.02 in, but I agree with Aaron. It diminishes her. If the background had been some obvious link to justice, and the fact that justice stands above (or should stand above) anyone, then the approach would be reasonable. As it is, it looks like someone standing in front of a backdrop, waiting to be photographed.

[darlene]

I was taken back at first by the portrait, thinking it may have been a 'behind the scene' capture. Then a few days later and after I saw it is indeed the official portrait, I looked at it again, and I came back with a different feeling.

Maybe you have to be a woman, or maybe you have to be from a minority that up until the recent past were probably passed over for a particular type of position or job title. I see layers in this portrait. Layers that represent getting to the next level. You will see something different for sure.

Art is open to interpretation. Mine is definitely different from yours. I am female and I heard early in my career the guy gets paid more because he has a family to support. Thankfully today all the single mothers does not have to listen to that crap any longer.

I think there is more meaning in this portrait than a lot of people will see. I see it for myself and I am happy the photographer and the subject are bold, beautiful and courageous enough to think outside the box. They had to be to get where they got!

--

On a different note, my son also graduated from Palmetto High in Miami. And I have a fantastic art history professor to thank for that. She kindly recommended Palmetto to me. It is a small world sometimes. ;)