"Initially, when the world first shut down for covid I went back home to Georgia in order to quarantine with my grandparents. When stuck in quarantine I just because dissatisfied with not being able to get out and shoot. This dissatisfaction turned into the idea to just use my grandparents as models. I styled them in Beyoncé's Ivy Park brand as it had just recently dropped and I'd thought it'd just be fun to shoot with pieces. Those initial photos generated a bit of buzz online which I did not see coming at all. Fast forward almost seven months later and Beyoncé is gearing up to do the second release of Ivy Park with all new gear and out of the blue, I was sent a PR box with just about the entire collection in it and an incredibly heartfelt note written by Beyoncé stating that she'd seen the photos of my grandparents and she'd loved them. I cried. Anyone who knows me knows that Beyoncé is truly my idol, so to have that recognition is truly a dream come true. I am so fortunate to have such loving and fun grandparents who were willing to be apart of this. I cherish them from the bottom of my heart. We've all been over the moon about the entire thing." - Eric Hart Jr. (DPI '22)
