Harper’s Bizarre Bazaar with Alexi Lubomirski

Ok. I think this is a little odd. Harper’s Bazaar had Tyra dress up like Michelle Obama for a photo spread for the September issue. This is the only image available online so far, as far as I can tell; the issue hits newsstands this week. I think their Barack is way too Tyson Beckford-y.

UPDATE: more photos.

In related news, I did a little google search on the photographer, Alexi Lubomirski, and the very first entry, on supermodels.nl, has a rather entertaining bio:

“Alexi was born in Wimbledon in August, 1975, a beginning that belied his extraordinary background.

His mother, of Peruvian descent, met his polish father in Paris, where
his family had fled to during World War 2, leaving all homes and
belongings behind. He grew up in Paris and London, moving to Botswana with his mother and
English stepfather. It was his stepfather who gave him his first camera
at the age of 11. His serious interest in photography developed whilst traveling in Peru during a gap year at college. His interest later shifted from social commentary to narrative
based/fashion photography whilst studying his degree at the University
of Brighton, in the UK.

Introduced to Mario Testino whilst making the rounds in London with his
university portfolio, Lubomirski soon joined him in Paris as his
assistant. He worked with Testino for 4 years, travelling the globe from Rio to
NYC, South Africa to Scotland, during which time he met his girlfriend,
the model Jacquetta Wheeler, also ‘discovered’ by Mario, 2 years
earlier.

Despite being on an airplane every 5 or so days, he did manage to
produce a few test shoots, one of which was seen and placed immediately
in The Face by Katie Grand. He soon left Testino, shooting his first commissioned story and those following, for The Face with the editor Grace Cobb.

He was later introduced to Harper’s Bazaar, again by Katie.

He has been shooting fashion stories and celebrity covers (Renee
Zelleweger, Cate Blanchett, Gwen Stefani, Demi Moore and Catherine Zeta
Jones) for the magazine ever since, working with such fashion industry
stalwarts as Brana Wolf.

He recently relocated to NYC in Sept 2005.”

In more related news: Essence scored an Obama photo shoot, too. But these are the real Obamas, they don’t just play them on TV.