Fashion photography wields the profound ability to not only capture the beauty and glamour of silhouettes, but also speak to the essence of struggle, resilience, joy, and cultural heritage. The art form also serves as a testament to visual storytelling’s enduring power to shape narratives about identity and social change. British-Nigerian photographer Gabriel Moses is part of the contemporary vanguard using fashion imagery to speak to global issues like representation within the African diaspora, colorism, Black women’s maternal mortality rates, and more.
Known for working with brands like Chanel, Nike, and Louis Vuitton, and collaborating with cultural figures including Pharrell, A$AP Rocky, and supermodels like Imaan Hammam, the highly in-demand Moses is carving out a space within the fashion, beauty, and entertainment sectors through his commanding photos. His work demands your attention. It conveys a cinematic undertone, with vivid use of color, dramatic lighting, and intentional composition. And now, he has set his sights on the world of publishing with a striking new monograph, Gabriel Moses: Regina (Prestel). Taking its title and inspiration from the Latin word for queen, the book is an ode to the women in Moses’s life and a comprehensive collection of his photography, presented alongside conversations with friends and industry peers like British rapper Skepta, photographer Ciesay, and designers Samuel Ross and Matthew Williams.
“It was important to create one body of work that represented my journey and what I’ve been trying to say over the years with the art,” Moses tells Harper’s Bazaar. We caught up with him to talk about the inspiration behind Regina, his distinct style and creative process, and how he uses image-making to, as he puts it, “create the world that I want my kids to grow up seeing.”
Can you talk us through the ideation process behind the book?
It was important to almost create a time capsule across my career, something that I can pass down to my kids—to have something physical that represented my career and my work so far.
Skepta, [photographer] Nick Knight, Samuel Ross—the book includes input from names working across art, music, and fashion. Can you talk about your collaborative process?
These are all people who have been really influential within my career, all people that were an inspiration for me growing up. It was super important to have them involved and to have an honest conversation with Skepta and Nick Knight, and to almost have two sides: one where we are speaking more about life, and the other about the discipline of photography. I think that was the best way to speak within this book, through honest conversations. To have close friends and collaborators sharing their overview on myself. It was important to have their perspective featured within the book.
How did you land on the cover image?
Motherhood is important to me. I was raised by a single mother of five. For me, I’ve always seen the strength and the beauty within that, and there was no better time to centralize it and celebrate it than having it as a cover of this book.
Your imagery often includes imagery of bodies that are othered, plus-size men, pregnant femmes, and subjects of a dark complexion. Why is this important to you?
These are the things I’ve always seen beauty within. And my work is very honest; I create work from my perspective. With all of my subjects, these are all people that I’ve wanted to represent, whether it’s me thinking about what I want my daughters to grow up seeing as beautiful, and seeing and knowing that their dad celebrated with all different types of Blackness. I feel like I have a responsibility to create the world that I want my kids to grow up seeing. I wanted to represent that within my work.
What role does color play in your image-making process? What do you hope people take away from Regina?
[Color is] massive within my image-making process. It’s something I’m really calculated about, and I consider a lot when image-making. The way in which we play around with tones, light, and creating an overall atmosphere—it all contributes to the feeling you feel when you look at these images, and that’s always been my aim, to make people feel something. If there’s anything anyone takes away, it’s a feeling. That’s always my mission, and that’s why I like the first page of the book to start with “Who Can’t Hear Must Feel.” That’s always been the number one priority.
Gabriel Moses: Regina will be available for purchase from U.S. retailers on June 4.
