A$AP Rocky’s maturity and growth is captured through a raw, visual exploration of fatherhood, through both the rapper’s and Bottega Veneta-commissioned photographer Carrie Mae Weems’ perspectives.
Simultaneously announcing the acclaimed rapper as its latest brand ambassador, Bottega Veneta’s latest photography series sees a collaboration with A$AP Rocky and renowned photographer Carrie Mae Weems, exploring the modern definition of fatherhood and parenthood through Rocky’s perspective — on the fitting occasion of Father’s Day.
A photography series commissioned by Bottega Veneta Creative Director and longtime Weems admirer Matthieu Blazy, the tender, black-and-white images show Rocky holding, embracing and interacting with his two year and ten-month old sons, RZA and Riot Rose, respectively. “This is the evolution of Mr Mayers,” says Rocky. “This is me embodying and embracing fatherhood, parenthood, companionship, and family, while still working on all aspects of my career.”
The directness of the images, coupled with their domestic setting, lends a sense of raw and vulnerable, no-flash authenticity to the series, calling to mind Weems’ past projects, such as the iconic Kitchen Table Series. With her work centring around rebuking negative stereotypes and messaging around the African American family, and having previously spoken of her quest for truth through her work, Portraits of Fatherhood certainly goes some way in showcasing that truth. “Rocky’s concerns as an African American man with children profoundly moved me. Historically there has been a deep lack of honest representation of the Black family. It has been distorted for centuries. This was a unique opportunity to say something not just positive, but truthful – not just about Rocky’s own experience, but about how that reflects out to the broader population,” Weems says. “To be able to speak that authenticity through Rocky was galvanising.”
For A$AP Rocky, while the series is a manifestation of personal growth and a kind of visual bildungsroman, it was — more importantly — an opportunity for the rapper to be the face of an important statement within a wider community. “I don’t think there are many people in my culture who advocate for fatherhood and parenthood. This player persona is very pushed. When you think about a rapper, you think about adolescence, about the single bachelor lifestyle,” Rocky shares.
“When you think about A$AP Rocky, you think about a playboy, pretty boy, bras being thrown on stage,” the rapper continues. “This is about me as one-woman man, as a family man. It is about what completes my life now: being present as a partner and a parent.” Beyond the primary interactions between Rocky and his sons, Portraits of Fatherhood also brings Rocky’s family into the frame: via a homemade newspaper comprised of family photos, and framed in the background of a solo portrait of the rapper.
The series is most definitely a breath of fresh air — given all the heartbreaking issues that are plaguing the world at this point in time, the reminder of the warmth of a father’s love is a timely and welcome one.
Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our June/July 2024 issue, starring Jeff Satur on the cover.
RELATED ARTICLES
The Ballad of The Mechanical Timepiece
