An email changed my life... now I work the Met Gala and try to keep Anna Wintour happy

Daily Mail​

18-05-2025

Denise Stephanie Hewitt was sitting at a lunch table at a New York University (NYU) freshmen orientation event she was working at when the Vogue team emailed asking her to shoot Simone Biles before the 2021 Met Gala.
The then-19-year-old college sophomore had to silently contain her elation that a major publication wanted her to shoot the biggest fashion event of the year as she sat amongst nervous new students.
'We were sitting at our lunch table and I get an email from Vogue saying: "Would you be free to photograph Simone Biles getting ready for the gala?"' the 23-year-old photographer - who was the youngest ever to shoot the event - told DailyMail.com.
'I had to hold in my excitement because I'm very private about those things until everything goes live, but that was my first assignment,' she said about the Simone gig. 'It was the same day I got the email asking to shoot Sha'Carri [Richardson] as well.'
That September - as the gala was held late due to the pandemic - she photographed Biles trying on her 88-pound Area x Athleta dress at her final fitting, before popping over to The Plaza Hotel to document Richardson getting ready for the famed carpet.
'So that was my first assignment. It's all been them reaching out to me for things, which is why there's always that shock and the surprise, because you just never know when it's coming,' she told DailyMail.com.
Hewitt would go on to be invited back to the 2022 Met Gala, where she shot rapper Gunna. And the next year, where she shot singer-songwriter Erykah Badu and her daughter Puma Curry in 2023.
In 2024, she was finally invited inside the gala to shoot dancers working with Ariana Grande, who performed that year.
'One of the things is that you're seeing the looks on cameras on the livestream, but in person everything looks so much more decadent, which is so fun,' Hewitt dished to DailyMail.com.
But this year - her fifth gala and one that happened to fall on her birthday - might just take the cake.
The young Gen-Z photographer got to shoot the Met Gala's co-chairs: actor Colman Domingo, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, rapper A$AP Rocky, and singer Pharrell Williams, with Vogue's very own Anna Wintour.
And she also got to shoot a surprise guest: Kamala Harris.
'I actually didn't know I was shooting her until like two hours before,' she told DailyMail.com.
'I knew I'd be shooting the co-chairs, but they kept saying that it would be a special guest, and I just didn't know who the special guest was until they disclosed it to me.'
Hewitt snapped one of the most shocking images of the night of Harris wearing a black-and-white custom Off-White gown as she stood among the co-chairs inside the famous museum.
The former VP had skipped the red carpet, meaning when the photos finally got around, gala and Harris fans alike were shocked to see the politician amongst Hollywood's elites.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Denise Stephanie Hewitt (@thedenisestephanie)
'I'm very aware of the honor that it is to be selected to photograph a moment like this,' the humble NYU grad said of the gala.
Despite being amongst the finely tailored stars, she keeps her demeanor professional and sticks to her work.
'I'm also aware of the environment that I am in. It's not about me, it's not about my love for any of these people, I'm here to do a job. And I've been trusted to do that,' she told DailyMail.com.
'I also want to uphold a strong reputation, which is what has carried me throughout this career. I don't want to push or pry or insert myself into any situation. This gala isn't about me, although it's on my birthday. It's about me being able to show up and do this job very well and give them the assets that they need.
'Also, Anna Wintour is right there. I'm not trying to do anything bad in front of Anna Wintour,' she laughed.
Her favorite looks of the night were not the ones she shot, but those belonging to actor Damson Idris, who arrived in an F1-inspired suit before ripping it off to reveal a red suit underneath; Tiani Taylor, and Jodi Turner-Smith.
'I did get to see Damson's moment live backstage with that. That one was really fun, I really liked that,' she said.
The hardworking Brooklynite has had plenty of pinch-me moments throughout her career, which began when she was just a teen in her neighborhood of Red Hook, New York.
While working on a school project at the age of 15, she came across Red Hook Labs and eventually took part in their summer program.
Here, she honed her skills, developed her eye and booked a Marie Claire cover at the age of 17 featuring actress Emily Blunt.
'That's where I really got my first big break, as well,' the freelance photographer said of Red Hook Labs. 'The mentors and program teachers there saw my eye, and how I just like operated.
'And they asked one day: "Hey, would you want to shoot for a magazine?" And I was like: "Yes, of course I'd want to." So my first big gig was for More or Less magazine. It was the inaugural issue. It was actually created by the ex-creative director of British Vogue, Jimmy Perlman. So that was a really cool opportunity.
'But that studio was really a jumping off point for me to really build a career so early.'
She also booked a Barneys campaign there, where she casted her own aunt and used their own personal family belongings to create an intimate scene. It's one of her favorite projects to date.
While at the lab, she 'learned about being intentional with images' and developed her signature style, which many have described as intangibly intimate and narrative-driven.
As she approached her college years, the ever-sensible teen wasn't even fully thinking the photography route. In fact, every university she applied to - except NYU - she applied for the business program.
So when she got into the Tisch School of Arts for photography on a full-ride at the famed New York City school, she knew this was her path.
'I took that as my sign to just hop in and not be afraid to try out this career that no one else in my family has tried to embark on before. No one else is in the arts, or is done this kind of freelancing in this capacity, but I took [my acceptance] as my sign,' she said.
'The fact that I had gotten that on a full ride when everyone was telling me there's no aid, you might get in, but there's no aid, and you know the chances are so low, like that was a sign to me to really just lean into it and to do it. And I'm happy that I did.
'And I've been doing it ever since, continued this kind of Hannah Montana double life.'
In high school, she'd find herself getting out of math class and running to the bathroom to change into heeled boots and a skirt to run off to the studio or a gallery opening.
'To then in college, going to my RA meetings, meeting with my residents, going to shoot up at the Mark Hotel for the Met Gala getting readies, and then going down to Vogue, editing them, coming back to do another meeting with my residents, and then do homework and all the things,' she detailed.
'It's been a really fun journey,' she told DailyMail.com.
And a busy one! Because for Hewitt, college was about more than just getting the degree - a safety net if she ever wants to go corporate - as she still wanted to get the full experience.
She worked as an RA, gave tours, and participated on black student council. She also did a domestic exchange program, where she went to Atlanta and met her best friend.
So how did she do it all? She worked hard.
'My work ethic is unmatched,' Hewitt told DailyMail.com. 'And I'm going to just say that, I'm going to step out of my humble moment for a second. My work ethic is unmatched.'
She also played Tetris with her Google Calendar.
'That's my baby. If it's not on my Google Calendar, it is not happening, I've probably forgotten about it,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I've just had to master prioritizing and learning what my priorities are...It was definitely a challenge.
'[I] definitely missed some breakfasts and some lunches and missed some social outings, but I wouldn't had traded it. I've been really blessed to have this trajectory that I've had and enjoy a lot of it.'
And no, she doesn't believe a lick of this was simply luck.
'None of this is: "Oh, she's lucky,"' Hewitt said. 'It is blessings and hard work. I'm religious, so I will always say it's blessings and never luck. It's also hard work and never luck.'
Growing up, 'all I knew was excellence', she said. She went to a college prep school in Brooklyn, where they were required to take six AP courses, all the while, building her photography hobby into a career.
But another tier of excellence is simply having the ability to say yes.
'My entire trajectory has been me making things work,' she said. 'Me saying yes to things.
'There are things where sometimes it doesn't make sense at the moment, but it aligns, and you just have to say yes to things, because you never know where it's going to lead to you.'
For Hewitt, it led her to being the youngest ever photographer to shoot the Met Gala.