• Simone Biles is the cover star of Vogue’s August 2020 issue.
  • Well-known American photographer Annie Leibovitz captured Biles’s portraits for the cover and article.
  • Fans of the Olympic gymnast are applauding the magazine’s moving feature – but some are saying that the pictures have poor lighting and don’t flatter Biles’ skin tone.
  • Biles’ cover shoot has also ignited calls from critics who are urging Vogue, among other mainstream publications and the industry at large, to hire more Black photographers.
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Simone Biles is Vogue’s August 2020 cover star.

The 23-year-old gymnastics powerhouse and gold medal Olympian spoke to writer Abby Aguirre for Vogue about her inspiring journey in becoming America’s most decorated gymnast.

“Growing up, I didn’t see very many Black gymnasts,” Biles told Vogue. “So whenever I did, I felt really inspired to go out there and want to be as good as them. I remember watching Gabby Douglas win the 2012 Olympics, and I was like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.'”

The gymnast, who hopes to retire after the tentatively planned 2021 Olympics, was captured for the magazine’s cover and corresponding feature article by the storied American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Following the issue's launch, some fans of the gymnast have expressed criticism of how Biles' photos were captured and edited.

Some people showed how, if given the opportunity, they might have edited the photo's lighting to accentuate Biles' skin tone.

https://twitter.com/NowlenWebb/status/1281696382164668416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Fans seemed to be united around one theme: they were excited to see Biles' accomplishments and story featured in the iconic magazine.

On Twitter, users expressed opinions that Biles' photo shoot was a missed opportunity for the magazine to showcase a photographer of color, pointing to a larger conversation about legacy publications' need for Black creatives

After all, the first time Vogue hired a Black photographer for a cover photo shoot was in 2018 when Beyoncé was featured on the front of the magazine. This was all thanks to Beyoncé herself, who hired 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell to photograph her, becoming, at the time, the first African American photographer in Vogue's 125-year history to shoot the cover photo.

In regards to Biles' photo shoot, some users pointed out how the "Vogue challenge" - a social-media photo challenge trend that circulated earlier in the spring, where users were tasked to make Vogue-inspired magazine covers with their own photos - was one way that magazine staff members could have found photographers of color hire.

Vogue wrote an article about the social-media fad in June.

https://twitter.com/pollyirungu/status/1281281807795789824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Some fans of the gymnast shared positive reactions to the way that Leibovitz captured Biles, pointing out the athlete's powerful stances. On Leibovitz's Instagram account, commenters called the cover shot of Biles "gorgeous" and representative of "strength, poise, and America."

Other users pointed out that despite criticism over the way Biles' was photographed, there's still a human being behind the portraits.

Representatives for Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue; Annie Leibovitz, and Simone Biles, respectively, did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the full feature on Simone Biles published in Vogue, written by Abby Aguirre and photographed by Annie Leibovitz.