Accidental History

Initially, there was a push to have Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born on the Yale Alumni cover together. I was told, “This will be our first interracial couple cover ever!” It didn’t strike me as an important threshold, though, given that couples were rarely featured there. In the end, art director Jeanine Dunn and I decided that a single figure, in this case a dancer(!), on the cover was going to be the win, and that became my focus.

Okwui is an actor, as well as being a dancer, and yet it is the latter skill that was valuable to me. Most subjects don’t know how to move in front of the camera, so dancers are fantastic collaborators. I was looking forward to this one, as she was striking looking and charismatic as well.

I wanted some environmental portraits in the mix, as they’re usually my favorite photos of the day. Picturing someone doing something exceptional and beautiful in a real-world space feels more surprising and magical than in a studio setting.

The shooting itself was simple, with Okwui taking the lead and Peter providing support, which aligned with his role as a coordinator and director of their productions. This is where she excels: storytelling, movement, and showmanship.

Several of the scenarios that day delivered winning images, but the simplicity, enigmatic pose, and frankly, the strong vertical composition, led to the doubles cover. Accidentally, history is made.

Top Image: Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, photographed in their Brooklyn, NY studio, May 29, 2026.

Second and Bottom Images: Additional Okwui portraits from the session.