NOTICES
A peek behind the scenes of this
month’s monumental cover shoot
BACKSTAGE PASS
Peter Lindbergh,
this month’s cover
photographer, in
action in New York,
Sweden, London
and via video linkasked me to lengthen their legs or move
their eyes further apart...” he breaks into
a laugh. “You would not believe. It’s a
culture of madness.”
The images for the ambitious cover
shoot were captured in June, over three
continents and several days. Pulling the
portfolio together required gargantuan
effort: co-ordinating the diaries of
15 of the world’s most successful and
phenomenally busy women left little
margin for missteps. Two separate
shoots took place in studios in New
York and London. “My instructions
from the Duchess were clear: ‘I want
to see freckles!’” says Lindbergh, who
spoke to her over the phone on the
morning of the New York shoot. “Well,
that was like running through open
doors for me. I love freckles.”
Between New York and London, there
was a special moment in Stockholm,
outside Sweden’s Parliament House,
where climate activist Greta Thunberg
stages her weekly school strikes. WithThunberg unwilling to compromise on
her “no-fly” policy, Lindbergh travelled
to Sweden. She gamely posed for
him holding her handmade sign. “I was
expecting someone a little, how can
I say... automatic with her answers,”
says Lindbergh. “But she was so far
from this. She was so thoughtful, so
warm, and I was determined to get
a picture of her smiling. Within two
minutes she was laughing.”
The fourth shoot – in a first for
British Vogue and for Lindbergh – took
place via video link. Jacinda Ardern,
the esteemed Prime Minister of New
Zealand, was captured in Auckland at
10 o’clock on a sunny Sunday morning
by Lindbergh in his London studio at
11 o’clock on a Saturday night. “I was
already in love with Jacinda,” says the
photographer. “She’s not a politician
who talks about social housing then
drives away in a sports car. She was
so funny and kind, and, I have to say,
extremely beautiful.”
The photographs in the portfolio
capture a group with impressive
influence. “All the women were different,
but they each had something special,”
considers Lindbergh. “Sometimes
I worry I am becoming an old shmuck,
but it was wonderful to photograph this
project.” The feeling is mutual. “It’s a
monumental moment and a real coup
to have Peter’s images back in the pages
of British Vogue,” says Edward. “I am
so thrilled and hugely honoured that
he could capture the true personalities
of our 15 forces for change.” Ellie PithersW
hen it came to
photographing the
extraordinary cast of
women who appear
on the cover of this collector’s edition
of British Vogue, there was only one man
for the job: Peter Lindbergh. “It was
one of those brilliantly spontaneous
moments when HRH The Duchess of
Sussex and I had exactly the same idea
at exactly the same time,” says Edward
Enninful, of the choice. “Peter sees
beauty in real people, in real situations.
He makes everybody feel their best.”
The German photography titan
boasts a long history with British Vogue,
but it was his now-famous January 1990
cover, featuring a gang of supermodels,
that was the reference for the Forces
for Change issue. “Natural” was a
word that came up repeatedly in cover
discussions. “I hate retouching, I hate
make-up. I always say, ‘Take the make-
up off!’” Lindbergh, 74, confirms. “The
number of beautiful women who have94