Atlanta’s globetrotting fashion photographers are in high demand

Dutch fashion designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are the marquee names behind the High Museum show “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements.” But the exhibition also features the distinctive stamp of two local fashion photographers: Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice, collectively known as AB+DM.

They were commissioned by the High to fly to Paris and photograph the latest Viktor&Rolf collection as well as a striking black and white portrait of the two designers for inclusion in the exhibition.

“Including AB+DM underscores that world-class talent thrives right here in our community. They embody the best of what Atlanta represents — vision, discipline and heart — and I’m incredibly proud that their work is part of this story,” said Atlanta entrepreneur Lauren Amos, a supporter of the High’s fashion initiatives who worked closely with the pair on the Viktor&Rolf exhibition.

“Being displayed in the High Museum was something that we’ve never seen for ourselves,” said Maurice, 31. But it’s hardly the first triumph in AB+DM’s meteoric rise in the seven years he and Barber, 35, have worked together.

Part of the Viktor&Rolf Paris collection shot by Atlanta photographers Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice for the High Museum exhibition "Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements." (Courtesy of AB+DM/The High Museum of Art)

They’ve shot film and TV campaigns including for the Netflix series “Wednesday” and the film juggernaut “Wicked: For Good,” as well as celebrity magazine covers for InStyle, Men’s Health, Billboard, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. They’ve shot Jenna Ortega in her hotel room for the annual Met Gala in New York City and a raft of A-list stars including Lady Gaga, Dwayne Johnson and Zendaya.

In February the duo produced a Hollywood Reporter cover featuring Ariana Grande looking ethereal in a sculptural, lacelike Elsa Schiaparelli dress with a swooping bodice like angel’s wings. The image will be featured in a 2026 Schiaparelli exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. That shoot exemplifies AB+DM’s unique style of bringing fashion conventions to bear on celebrity portraiture.

“We characterize ourselves as a fashion photography duo, but our niche is that we’re bringing this fashion photography edge into spaces where fashion photography isn’t necessarily the thing” said Barber.

Cynthia Erivo (left) and Ariana Grande shot for the "Wicked" film campaign by AB+DM. (Courtesy of AB+DM)

Both Barber and Maurice describe themselves as men of faith. Maurice was raised by parents who are both pastors and now work with Global City of Refuge in Norcross. He moved with his family from Philadelphia to Conyers when he was 10 and studied film and video at Georgia State University.

Barber grew up in Detroit and came to Atlanta to study pre-med at Morehouse. But both were obsessed with photography and eventually shifted their focus to pursuing creative careers. They knew each other’s work from social media and finally met up in 2018 when Maurice put out a call for an assistant to help him on a Journeys shoes campaign.

Coincidentally, they later learned they both had studios down the hall from each other at the Goat Farm.

Like another fashion photographer from Atlanta, Tyler Mitchell, Barber and Maurice live in a rarefied world. They fly Delta One to London, New York, Paris and Los Angeles and tend to stay in luxury spots like London’s art’otel and the West Hollywood Edition.

“We’re spoiled. But not jaded,” said Maurice with a laugh.

From AB+DM’s photo session with Ariana Grande for The Hollywood Reporter. (Courtesy of AB+DM)

Despite careers defined by proximity to wealth, fame and privilege, the pair remain humble, cut from a very different cloth than jet-setting, model-dating fashion photographers like Helmut Newton, Mario Testino, Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson, known for big egos, bigger personalities and no shortage of unsavory controversy.

“Both Ahmad and Donté are such class acts,” said “Fashion Statements” curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot. “Their lovable personalities make you want to be on board with them. Why do you think every single Hollywood celebrity wants to be photographed by them?”

“There’s a generosity in how they see people — every image feels like a true collaboration between them and their subject,” said Amos. “They understand fashion as both an art form and a language of identity, which makes their work feel profoundly human.”

Cardi B shot by AB+DM for Billboard magazine. (Courtesy of AB+DM)

Sitting outside the Westside Switchyards co-working space, the sound of a train regularly passing in the distance, Barber and Maurice talk about their creative process. Barber is lo-fi cool in a baggy acid-yellow sweatshirt and Atlanta baseball cap while Maurice sports perfectly groomed facial hair and stylish eyeglasses. They project a disarmingly wholesome quality, a warmth and integrity that breaks the mold of aloof, too-cool-for-school fashion types.

Collaboration is an essential part of their on-set style. They give everyone on their shoots from Zendaya to the lighting guy the opportunity to be creative together. “People just want to feel heard,” said Maurice. Even between the two photographers, there is no hierarchy, just a desire to get the best possible outcome, said Maurice.

“We’re believers, and so we understand that the energy that you give off, the peace, the understanding, all of those things also sets an environment,” said Barber.