Photographer Misan Harriman, who was behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby bump reveal picture in 2021, has revealed the “important duty” he feels when working with A-listers, in particular female stars.
During his own ‘Storytelling The Future’ event in London last week, Mr Harriman made sure to comment on the ‘hyper-sexualisation of women’.
In 2021, he photographed Harry and Meghan’s pregnancy announcement pictures.
Harry and Meghan’s pregnancy announcement with Lilibet came during, although not at the height of, the Coronavirus pandemic.
At the event, he said: “If you see how I shoot women in particular, it’s very much, I hope, a representation of who they are.
“I’ve shot some very famous actresses and I’ll say, ‘Why are you moving that way?’ For years, men have been shooting them like they’re a cold cut on the table.”
He added: “Women have not been able to tell their stories. The hyper sexualisation of women is fine when it’s coming from a woman’s point of view, but when it’s a man’s, nah.
“I’m a man who is seemingly vulnerable and we need more men who aren’t afraid to show that this is ok in this world.
“I have also made it my duty to give women a voice and I capture what they want to portray. Women have not been able to tell their story, so this is very important.”
Speaking on being encouraged to take on professional photography by his wife, he added: “It protected me when I needed it to and became a means through which I can tell my truth.
“There truly is nothing like photography when it comes to storytelling, the intimate stillness of an image and the way in which it does not demand anything from its subject, but rather allows people take their own story from it.”
In September 2020, Misan became the first black man to shoot for British Vogue.
He said that being behind the camera is like his “sword and shield”.
In the pictures he took for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan can be seen leaning into Harry’s lap as she cradles her growing bump.
Fast forward to just over a year later, he was also the one behind Lilibet’s first birthday photo.
Dressed in a pretty blue dress, the little girl can be seen smiling towards the camera, also sporting her father’s famous red locks.
