Morning Glory

For an image of Xiye Bastida, the teenage climate activist profiled by Lizzie Widdicombe in “All or Nothing” (page 64), fashion editor Max Ortega had a powerful—and very specific—point of reference. “My first instinct was to shoot her at sunrise, inspired by the Greek goddess Gaia, the root of creation,” he says. With a 3 a.m. wake-up call, he and photographer Miranda Barnes would both catch the soft dawn light over the Long Island Sound (they shot Bastida in Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve, about 50 miles east of Manhattan), and have the roads and location all to themselves. Plus, Ortega adds gleefully, “you are all done by 10 a.m. and can go home!”

“We wanted to keep the portrait simple and classic, especially since Kodi [Smit-McPhee]’s features are already so uniquely striking,” says photographer Tess Ayano (“Hard Times,” page 66)