Bottega Veneta today presents “Portraits of Fatherhood”, a new photography series by Carrie Mae Weems with A$AP Rocky, commissioned by Creative Director Matthieu Blazy. The series of siximages, released on Father’s Day, shows A$AP Rocky in a home setting with his two young sons, RZA and Riot Rose.
“This is the evolution of Mr. Mayers,” says A$AP Rocky, who today is also announced as Bottega Veneta’s latest Brand Ambassador. “This is me embodying and embracing fatherhood, parenthood, companionship, and family, while still working on all aspects of my career.”
The tender, black-and-white images show A$AP Rocky holding, embracing, and interacting with RZA, 2, and Riot Rose, 10 months. One picture shows Rocky lifting up his youngest son and kissing his forehead. Another shows the young boys at a toy piano, with Rocky playing alongside them on a keyboard. The photographs are accompanied by a short film, directed by Weems, with music direction by Rocky.
In their directness, domesticity, and no-flash authenticity, the images recall Weems’ iconic Kitchen Table Series, as well as her first solo exhibition, Family Pictures and Stories (1981-1982), a rebuke to negative stereotypes and messaging around the African American family. For the artist, who has long spoken of her quest for truth through her work, the project with A$AP Rocky represented “an important gesture that cannot be understated”.
“Rocky’s concerns as an African American man with children profoundly moved me. Historically there has been a deep lack of honest representation of the Black family. It has been distorted for centuries. This was a unique opportunity to say something not just positive, but truthful – not just about Rocky’s own experience, but about how that reflects out to the broader population. In the wake of all the atrocities committed against Black men — particularly because of their masculinity — Rocky can be seen with his children, in love. To be able to speak that authenticity through him was galvanising.”
“I first encountered Carrie’s photography as a student,” says Matthieu Blazy. “I was deeply moved by its originality, engagement, and social impact. Over the years since, I have carried the power and importance of her work with me. I am honoured that she has brought her lens and vision to this project with Rocky, exploring fatherhood and what it means today. The images shows the realness of Rocky as a father and as a man beyond the public figure. What strikes me first and foremost in the pictures is their intimacy.”
For A$AP Rocky, the project represents not just a personal evolution but an important statement within a wider community. “I don’t think there are many people in my culture who advocate for fatherhood and parenthood. This player persona is very pushed. When you think about a rapper, you think about adolescence, about the single bachelor lifestyle. When you think about A$AP Rocky, you think about a playboy, pretty boy, bras being thrown on stage. This is about me as one-woman man, as a family man. It is about what completes my life now: being present as a partner and a parent.”
Beyond the primary interactions between Rocky and his children, “Portraits of Fatherhood” also bring secondary family photography into the frame. We see Rocky looking through a homemade newspaper comprised of family photos. A solo portrait shows the rapper smiling with framed family pictures in the background. A still life shows a small toy car alongside a vinyl produced by Weems, with a cover image of A$AP Rocky as a child with his own father.
With its authentic everyday setting and focus beyond product, the project represents for Rocky an unprecedented endeavour. “To me, this is the first of its kind. It is a collaborative, collective art piece that shows the sincerity of my place and interactions as a father.”
Bottega Veneta
Shop 205-208, 2/F
