“I would often come across images of sensual, young, attractive white models running around being free and having so much fun,” explains the photographer Tyler Mitchell. “I seldom saw that freedom for Black people in images.” Mitchell set out to portray that sense of fun and freedom, to visualize what a “Black utopia” might look like. He has photographed Beyoncé and Spike Lee, but also children playing with hula hoops in a city park and teenagers peering carelessly through blades of grass. The images are pure, visceral, authentic, optimistic, and important. —E.C.

The exhibition catalogue is on sale now from Prestel.