GO BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE US OPEN x VOGUE WITH CAROLINE TOMPKINS

“I think of Vogue’s US Open assignment as a ‘photo award’ the magazine gives out every year," says Caroline. "I’ve seen so many photographers that I respect photographing it in the past. For this reason alone, I was excited (and nervous!) to photograph it in 2021 and again in 2022.

The team at Vogue gave me ultimate creative freedom. Shooting was an act of endurance; I had to show up every day and try to build a story of images that felt unique to me. Because of COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, I couldn’t get press access, so I focused the story on the spectator: the fashion, the quietude, the watching, all in the summer heat.”

"I sought out a guy I found on Instagram who dyed his hair to look like a tennis ball and met up with him at 6 am to photograph him before he went to work. I reached out to people who made tennis-specific clothing and photographed them outside of the grounds.

In 2022, I was able to get onto the court and found myself in awe of the way the athletes moved. I was surrounded by press photographers who had photographed these scenes thousands of times, but I couldn’t stop smiling. Many of those press photographers teased me about using manual focus lenses and the 'wrong' cameras, but I knew I was there to create my own story."