--- title: The Story Behind Taylor Swift’s POY Cover Shoot description: Photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin shot Taylor Swift for her Person of the Year covers. Here’s the inspiration behind the shoot. canonical: https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-12-06T12:55:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:51.506Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The Story Behind Taylor Swift’s Person of the Year Cover Shoot og:description: Here’s the inspiration behind the shoot. og:url: https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5526da0d3fad0569/698a42fe4ee262bebb31c05b/taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story Behind Taylor Swift’s Person of the Year Cover Shoot twitter:description: Here’s the inspiration behind the shoot. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5526da0d3fad0569/698a42fe4ee262bebb31c05b/taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Inspiration Behind Inez and Vinoodh’s Taylor Swift TIME Person of the Year Covers > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: TIME Person of the Year 2023 | Taylor Swift [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Person of the Year 2023 | Taylor Swift](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZNHPu9Wg.m3u8) (7:27)  _Published 2023-12-06. Since 1927, TIME has chosen a Person of the Year, the editors’ assessment of the individual who most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or for worse._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 6, 2023 12:55 PM UTC  Photograph by Inez and Vinoodh for TIME  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 6, 2023 12:55 PM UTC Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, better known professionally by their first names only, are responsible for some of the most striking celebrity portraits of their generation, from [Lady Gaga](https://www.inezandvinoodh.com/editorial/v-magazine/v-mag-lady-gaga/) to [Barack Obama](https://www.inezandvinoodh.com/portraits/gq-magazine-moty/). The pair, who are partners in both work and life, met as students at fashion school in their hometown of Amsterdam and made names for themselves as the go-to photographers for cutting-edge fashion editorials and big-name luxury brands. As early adopters of digital photography, they became known for their experimental style, sharp images, and fine-art sensibility—all elements that helped produce their distinctive portraits. Inez and Vinoodh have a way of making every subject look and feel confident. Their often-high profile subjects are rendered even more powerful, more glamorous, and more dynamic than they may already feel, making the couple apt documenters to the world of celebrity. So perhaps it’s only fitting that the duo would take on a subject as culturally dominant as Taylor Swift. During her cover shoot in New York City for [TIME’s Person of the Year story](https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/), Inez and Vinoodh captured the pop star in her prime, in the midst of her[Eras tour](https://time.com/6343028/taylor-swift-workout-routine-eras-tour/). While the pair had photographed her once before, for a [2019 _Vogue_ shoot](https://www.vogue.com/article/taylor-swift-cover-september-2019), they were excited to collaborate with her again, calling her the “ideal subject.” ### More From TIME Ahead of the launch of [TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year story](https://time.com/6342816/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift-choice/), Inez spoke to TIME about their inspiration for the shoot, what’s changed since they last photographed Taylor, and their favorite Swift era. **TIME**: **How did you prepare for your shoot with Taylor?** Inez van Lamsweerde: First of all, we went to see _The Eras Tour_ movie—it's just incredible. And then we did a deep dive into all her different personifications and the way she expressed her feelings over the years of her career to form a concept. We were mostly struck by watching her perform her lyrics, the way she relates to you and how that releases an extraordinary sense of empathy in her. The way she talks, the way she looks at life, it's with this heightened sense of empathy that's quite extraordinary. Combined with this incredibly glamorous side that’s sort of like old Hollywood and her amazing strength, defiance and power, we tried to express each of them throughout all the different sessions that we did. **Taylor’s currently in the midst of her Eras Tour. Obviously, she was in a different era the last time you shot her in 2019\. How do you think she has changed? How do you perceive her in her current era?** I think it's mostly growing up. I could see the extreme fulfillment she has from performing. She loves performing. She loves the connection that she has with people. That's what's extraordinary about her openness and respectfulness. She's just a very generous, gentle person; she'll have an opinion and she'll express it in the most respectful way and is extremely collaborative. It's extraordinary how someone of that level of fame can actually stay that connected and in touch with life and our own feelings. She doesn't seem at all like she's removed from reality—she's very much in it. **What do you think makes Taylor an interesting subject to shoot?** Apart from her beauty, obviously, there's this idea that she's your best friend. What's so wonderful about her is she's open and real and she'll talk about anything, like she does in her lyrics—she loves connecting. It's about what she expresses that people can actually relate to, feel comforted by or inspired by, or \[be\] given strength by and it's quite extraordinary the way she manages to do that. She basically provided the soundtrack to so many young people's lives; people have grown up with her. **Read More:** [_Taylor Swift Makes History as Person of the Year. Here’s How_](https://time.com/6343069/taylor-swift-history-person-of-the-year/) **Do you have a favorite era of Taylor’s?** That's hard for me because I like all of it. I think _Reputation_ is probably my favorite, just for the defiance of it. **Can we talk about the photo of Taylor with her cat?** Benjamin! \[Swift has a ragdoll cat named Benjamin Button.\] **How did this photo come about?** There's a book by photographer Bill Hayward called _Cat People_ from the ‘70s, with journalistic photos of cat lovers and their cats, but it's all entertainers, writers, journalists—some very famous, some not so famous. And the pictures are brilliant. It shows very well the relationship that people have with their cats. But at the same time, \[shows\] the way cats are kind of on their own—they're a special breed of animal. So I got a vintage copy of it for Taylor because I know she's a major cat lover, and her cats travel with her. And I said, “You know, I've always wanted to do a picture like the one that's on the cover of that book where the cat's on the shoulder of the girl.” It speaks to a sense of carrying everything on your shoulders but being defiant while doing so. And she agreed and that's how that picture happened.  TIME **Read More:** [_Behind the Scenes of TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year Issue_](https://time.com/6342829/person-of-the-year-2023-editors-letter/) **Why do you think that the photo would embody Taylor in this particular moment?** It really has everything: Her glamor, her power, her sense of empathy of carrying the whole world on her shoulders. Because if you do feel like that—she's so involved in everything, whether it's getting young people to vote, etc.—she's always pushing for things that are outside of the music realm. I felt that there is something there in her body position that's very powerful and strong. Her expression and the way she looks has this old Hollywood glamor but underneath, there’s so much power in her stance. The way she has Benjamin on her shoulders is kind of like, ‘Yeah, I'm carrying you all.’ ## Transcript She's been this for the light in the world this year. She brought to so many people together like a community to it's not even just hurt. It just made me feel like I wasn't alone and I wasn't crazy for feeling the way that it was feeling we grew up together. We all went through the same things together the stadium and it feels like you're with her one-on-one. Friendship bracelets are a huge part of the areas for these bracelets are so important exchanging special handmade friendship bracelet all goes back to Taylor song. You're on your own kid. So my friends and I got tickets to the arrows toward we had about two hundred bracelets made. We just couldn't stop you really just had a good time doing it. You realize 200 very slick was way too many for us to all bring in trade can actually came up with the idea to put them on at Sea until then. I went to bed. I woke up the next morning and we had over three hundred bracelets on order. It's like five six seven. I'm going to have to make sure you got done with so many we weren't expecting to get much money a couple hundred dollars at the most this morning. I ran the numbers and we're at $19,000 in sales The Heirs to his my Roman Empire, I think about it all the time every day. I hear a song. That's a great price that song. That's a good thing to put on a bracelet this business definitely keep us in touch two of us over Massachusetts the other two live in Connecticut. Now, we have to meet up and trade bracelets drop off talking with every single day. Keep making more songs Taylors. I went to the reputation tour. I was right next to a security guard. So we struck up a conversation and he told me about the gig they have a couple years later. I found some free time. So I picked up that job ultimately to try and work the Taylor Swift concert with working on the floor kind of right along the edge of her stage after night one. I made little pieces of paper that asked the audience if they could take photos of me with Taylor Swift in the background and text it to me. When she came right behind me, there were a ton of fans and I had to look at the fans by saw all of their faces light up when she gets near them and it was just a sight even if I wasn't looking at her on that date. I think the squeal is Mom. They had me Neil up on the stage and I see Taylor Swift coming to a nice Knights worth fixing Young Band to give that hat tube during the song 22. I was already working with Taylor's water up team and they approached me to do the classical order for the video for 22. The connection could she have with her fan in the moment? You are so emotional for me to see it was so beautiful. Baylor's name power so many women with her music and to me and be part of the always. I'm trying to empower women with my Craftsman and be together is so beautiful to me. I always loved you from the moment. I want to propose I wanted to do it at Taylor Swift concert. I just never thought I would you do I water the logistics of that. How long wait at the once-in-a-lifetime set the thing I was like, okay, I've got to figure out how is it going with the ring one? I need to see where exactly in the lyrics I have to kneel down to Nelly. All I could think of is what is the line? I need to go down one. Two to three weeks before the actual date of the score. Yeah. I never told him I would play the song whenever I would go to work and whenever I would come back just to make sure it's okay. This is the part that I have to mail them. You got so many different angles of the proposal and I have some of those saved as like Swifty section 326 never seen so much brightness and glitter up around all at once, but I've never been a part of such a supportive Community like that. I just knew that when I proposed to Nick I needed a letter to be a part of it because she's been such momenta simpactful person predict his whole life and as much as I love her too, it just felt like this is something I don't want Nick to remember forever. I want everything. He loves to be a part of the experience from She's been there on the hardest days of my life and she's been there for the best day of my life. Bird be able to successfully relate to so many people in the way that she has amazing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/"},"headline":"The Inspiration Behind Inez and Vinoodh’s Taylor Swift TIME Person of the Year Covers","datePublished":"2023-12-06T12:55:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:51.506Z","description":"Here’s the inspiration behind the shoot.","url":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/","keywords":["Person of the Year topic","Person of the Year 2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5526da0d3fad0569/698a42fe4ee262bebb31c05b/taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5526da0d3fad0569/698a42fe4ee262bebb31c05b/taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"taylor-swift-person-of-the-year-cat","caption":"","creditText":"Photograph by Inez and Vinoodh for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/person-of-the-year-2/","name":"Person of the Year topic"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/","name":"The Inspiration Behind Inez and Vinoodh’s Taylor Swift TIME Person of the Year Covers"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Person of the Year 2023 | Taylor Swift","description":"Since 1927, TIME has chosen a Person of the Year, the editors’ assessment of the individual who most shaped the headlines over the previous 12 months, for better or for worse.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZNHPu9Wg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-12-06T12:25:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZNHPu9Wg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/","duration":"PT7M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6343115/taylor-swift-covers-inspiration-inez-vinoodh/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```