On Tuesday, Drake posted a series of photos of his son Adonis for the first time. The Instagram post seemed to be the rapper’s response to what’s going on in the world, and told his 64 million followers: “What is most important for you right now is to connect to your own inner light.” Followed by: “I love and miss my beautiful family and friends, and I can’t wait for the joyful day when we are all able to reunite. Until then please keep your lights on.”

In the slideshow of images were two professional studio photographs of Drake alone with Adonis, as well as a picture of Drake’s parents, and a picture of Drake with Adonis’s mother, former porn star Sophie Brussaux. Yesterday (April 1), Catherine Opie regrammed the pictures of Drake and Adonis with the caption: “It was so nice to see this post while I’m staying in isolation/staying home. Photographs of Drake and his son Adonis #catherineopie #drake #portrait #stayathome.”

Look closely at the pictures, and the dark studio lighting and classical composition resemble Opie’s portraits from her Portraits and Landscapes series, in which the queer LA photographer shot the artist Isaac Julien, Michèle Lamy, and author and critic Hilton Als (you can tour the photos here). 

In 2018, Drake alluded to why he keeps information about his son Adonis – who was born in October 2017 – so private. On the track “Emotionless”, he raps: “I wasn’t hidin’ my kid from the world. I was hidin’ the world from my kid.”

In the Instagram post, he wrote: “Everything comes down to intention, and even though there are conflicting energies circling around us you must KNOW... it will rebuild. But in order for that to happen, you have to do exactly that. Trust. You have the biggest heart and that is your greatest gift. It’s impossible to always control your surroundings, but when you shift the focus to how you want to feel, everything will conspire to assist you.”