How One Photographer Shot Striking Photos Inside the 2025 Met Gala—and Dressed Quite Dandy for the Job

From festival drip to the Tony Awards, red carpet events, and the biggest college stars in women’s basketball—photographer Denise Stephanie Hewitt has captured intimate and energized portraits for Vogue. The 2025 Met Gala was her fifth year photographing for the event—but this time, she got deeper inside, capturing some of the night’s most striking scenes and portraiture.

“I still get chills each year I get the email asking me to photograph it,” Hewitt tells Vogue. She first photographed the Met age 19, and this was her first year inside as things really went down. “It’s an invite to an intimate space where people are workshopping their final look in real time or practicing their plating before guests arrive. There’s trust put on me to capture a record of people’s artistic practice that does it justice. I’m used to being the youngest in the room, and have been able to pave my way in spite of it.”

Hewit knew that, this year, she would be photographing the co-chairs—A$AP Rocky, Colman Domingo, Pharrell Williams, and Lewis Hamilton—but wasn’t aware who the secret “special guest” joining them would be. She waited around for the moment, watching Megan thee Stallion and Sabrina Carpenter pass by. When she saw former vice president Kamala Harris (wearing a custom look from Off-White, designed by creative director IB Kamara, for her first Met Gala appearance) emerge from behind the curtains, she couldn’t believe it: “I made the shots very quick, counting out loud to get everyone prepared, and got out of the way.”