Vogue's photo shoot of Ukraine president and first lady gets mixed response

It's day 154 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UN alleges over 12,272 casualties so far, airstrikes are being reported today from Odesa and Mykolaiv, and the president and first lady of Ukraine held a photo shoot for Vogue magazine.

One of those developments is not quite like the other.

Vogue called it a "portrait of bravery", placing first lady Olena Zelenska on the cover of its digital version, and posing her for photographs along soldiers and wreckage.

The accompanying story examined how Zelenska had found herself "center stage in a tragedy" and the impact of the war so far. "We're looking forward to victory," she said. "We have no doubt we will prevail. And this is what keeps us going."

Vogue's Ukraine photo shoot was done by its favourite photographer, Annie Leibovitz. While Ukraine president Zelensky has been lauded for his response to his country's invasion, the response on social media to his photo shoot was mixed.

It's a questionable choice to use a war as the backdrop of a photo shoot. But one might argue it's pretty much in Vogue's wheelhouse. Over a decade ago, Vogue India did a photo shoot of "ordinary Indians" holding accessories they would never be able to afford – such as a $10,000 Hermès Birkin bag. More recently, the magazine was criticised for "whitewashing" US vice-president Kamala Harris when they put her on the cover in February 2020.