He sold his car, bought a Camper Van and motivated harder than ever before, driving across America to Los Angeles. He enlisted in the military and served six years before relocating to Monroe, North Carolina, to pursue a film and photography career. Doing what he could to cope, Supreme decided to simplify his life. Several years ago, his mother passed away following a decade-long illness. The photographer born Anthony Thompson, came to realize his passion for photography partially through loss.

Though it was a personal favorite, it wasn’t the image Supreme expected Cole to choose. The cover shot, taken during a walk through an ATL neighborhood, shows Cole’s back, leaving the viewer to focus on the young boy looking up at the rapper. Starting in Raleigh, North Carolina, the team moved through Fayetteville, then down to Atlanta and Baton Rouge. The whole experience was very in-the-moment. Supreme joined Cole on a two-week journey through the South, documenting Cole’s writing sessions and spontaneous outings. Each image is meant to look slightly haphazard. Like the vinyl versus digital debate, both agreed that imperfection, elements of surprise and even dusty, out-of-focus images would add character and depth to Cole’s visual vocabulary. Supreme and Cole, both North Carolina natives, worked collaboratively to bring that vision to life, discussing ideas of chance, tonality and spontaneity that 35mm, black and white aesthetics could bring to the table. As the image maker responsible for the co ver art of 4 Your Eyez Only, Supreme understood the importance of very specific visuals for an artist like J. For photographer Anthony Supreme, imperfection is perfect.

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