“I grew up dancing actually 24/7. It was simply faculty, dance, faculty, dance, residence, no sleep, finding out,” says Tyrell Hampton, who spent his childhood coaching to be knowledgeable dancer. “If you don’t have social engagements if you’re younger, you chase them if you’re older.” Within the handful of years since he moved from Philadelphia, the place he grew up, to New York Metropolis, the now 25-year-old photographer has performed extra than simply go after good occasions—he has constructed a profession out of capturing them. It began organically, as he developed friendships with like-minded individuals whereas he was a pictures scholar at Parsons College of Design. “I used to be photographing no matter I used to be doing on the time as a result of I used to be simply so grateful to be in these moments of, like, ‘We’re on the membership! Oh my gosh, and I’m in New York!’ ” he says. Whereas interning at magazines and manufacturing firms, he received into the behavior of “irreverently taking photographs in locations the place I shouldn’t have been,” like backstage at style exhibits. As of late you may catch him—totally credentialed—at celebrity-packed galas for the Met or the Academy Museum. He has additionally constructed fairly a following on TikTok, the place he shares movies of himself dancing, touring, or joking round along with his mannequin friends. However he has his sights set past nightlife: “My old flame was video, so I need to get again into making movies,” he says. “And in addition extra tangible issues, like books and zines—issues that individuals can have.”
“I grew up Muslim, so there’s a time period in my life when there actually aren’t any photographs, as a result of my mother was so strict about it. However within the early levels, once I was first born, there are such a lot of photographs,” Hampton says. “That is simply me in a complete new outfit at Image Individuals, having fun with the digicam with my little widow’s peak and my thick eyebrows.”
Hampton met Kendall Jenner “from exhibits and stuff,” however they had been formally launched by Hailey Bieber. The candid at proper is from Jenner’s good friend Stassie Karanikolaou’s birthday in Los Angeles. “I used to be operating by and noticed her entangled accidentally, after which she entangled herself extra.”
Mannequin Jordan Daniels (proper, with mannequin Iris Regulation) is certainly one of Hampton’s closest associates. “I’m at all times at her home, along with her cats, and we watch films,” he says. “She’s an enormous Marvel fan. If I’m not along with her, then I’m, like, on my own at a bookstore.”
“That is throughout Paris Vogue Week on the Saint Laurent atelier,” Hampton says. He walked into the social gathering and noticed Shalom Harlow perched on the sofa subsequent to stylist Donte McGuire and received the shot. “In addition they had these wonderful burgers that aren’t pictured.”
“He’s truly so loopy, my Capricorn king,” Hampton says of the actor and musician Dominic Fike (above). “I first met him on a shoot so way back, earlier than he was on Euphoria, and we actually bonded. Now he’s sponsored by Saint Laurent, and I get to see him far more actually because the model is form of like, ‘It’s a must to go to those occasions!’ ”
Hampton bumped into “the brand new bestie duo” Alexa Demie (left) and Taylor Russell in an elevator, on his method out of the Loewe social gathering in Paris. “I don’t understand how I get into any of this stuff, as a result of my title is rarely on the listing, however I simply someway find yourself there.”
When requested what units his work aside, Hampton factors to 2 elements of his character: “I’m attentive, and I’m a fan,” he says. “I take up individuals’s power and their character in order that I can hopefully perceive what picture they’d need to characterize themselves. And I like social media and popular culture simply as a lot as they do, which makes me each an outsider and an insider.” Above: Rosalía at a Met Gala afterparty.
Lydia Campanelli and Addison Rae.
“I really feel like Paris is like Miami in that it solely will get loopy throughout this particular week when plenty of style individuals take over,” Hampton says, evaluating Vogue Week to Artwork Basel. “I fell in love with the town this time round. I believe it’s wonderful how style lets everybody journey the world with one another. It’s mainly a college journey with all your pals.” Iris Regulation.
Hampton snapped this picture of mannequin Paloma Elsesser at a Met Gala afterparty at Carbone in 2021. “Virgil Abloh was DJing with Zack Bia. Heron Preston was there…so many individuals. There was sadly no meals at this social gathering, however I’m a Carbone woman. I can’t get a reservation, nonetheless, however YOLO.”
Hampton grew to become acquainted with Lourdes Leon by the skilled dance world, whereas he was in faculty. “She was additionally a dancer, and so we chatted about dance on a regular basis,” he recollects. “This picture is from a random grungy downtown social gathering at a bar on Chrystie Road. All of the skaters had been there, so clearly I confirmed up.”
“That is Miss Kylie Jenner, my Leo queen, on the Balenciaga afterparty in Paris. I went as much as her and was like, ‘We met earlier than.’ And he or she was like, ‘Oh my god; I’ve seen you on TikTok,’ which is at all times a pleasant introduction. As a result of I’m like, ‘Okay, then you realize my character.’ ”
Hampton (above) and fellow photographer Quil Lemons met whereas they had been in highschool in Philadelphia, and so they grew to become nearer once they had been in faculty. “Quil made these shirts, and he used to only give them to us,” Hampton says of the tee he’s sporting right here on a late-night stroll by SoHo. “That’s after we had been broke, and we might be like, ‘Okay, we’re simply going to go to Checkers or Han Dynasty for meals’—these form of vibes.”
Gossip Woman costars Evan Mock (left) and Eli Brown run in the identical downtown social gathering circuit as Hampton. “I believe I used to be sitting speaking to a boy, minding my very own enterprise, and these two had been making faces at me,” the photographer says of this picture. “It was simply a type of moments the place I used to be like, I have to take a photograph of this.”
W has commissioned Hampton to shoot quite a few occasions over the previous few years, together with the journal’s fiftieth anniversary social gathering on the Chinese language restaurant Shun Lee West. Among the many friends had been Pharrell Williams and his spouse, Helen Lasichanh (left), and Emily Ratajkowski (high). “I stored bringing individuals to this fan by the lavatory,” Hampton says. “I simply love a wind-in-hair second.”
On the September 2021 Met Gala, Hampton was certainly one of a handful of photographers with entry contained in the museum. However everybody is aware of the actual motion occurs on the afterparties—and, in fact, he’s there, digicam in hand. Above and under: Bella Hadid and Olivia Rodrigo at Zero Bond in Could 2022.
“I don’t know what was extra iconic: Diana Ross or this Sagittarius-and-Most cancers linkup,” Hampton says of the Web-breaking shot he captured of Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber (high) on the star-studded Academy Awards Gala this fall. Above: Director Luca Guadagnino with Taylor Russell on the similar occasion.
