Faces and Phases by Zanele Muholi
Begun in 2006, Faces and Phases is an ongoing series of photographic portraits of Black lesbians and transgender individuals Muholi has met in South Africa and beyond. The portraits work as a visual statement as well as an archive, presenting and preserving an often abused and ostracized community through visual records.
As Muholi writes: “In the face of all the challenges our community encounters daily, I embarked on a journey of visual activism to ensure that there is Black queer visibility. It is important to mark, map and preserve our mo(ve)ments through visual histories for reference and posterity so that future generations will note that we were here.
“In Faces and Phases I present our existence and resistance through positive imagery of Black queers (especially lesbians) in South African society and beyond. I show our aesthetics through portraiture.
“Faces express the person, and Phases signify the transition from one stage of sexuality or gender expression and experience to another. Faces is also about the face-to-face confrontation between myself as the photographer/activist and the many lesbians, women and trans men I have interacted with from different places. Photographs in this series traverse spaces from Gauteng and Cape Town to London and Toronto, and include the townships of Alexandra, Soweto, Vosloorus, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Katlehong and Kasigo.”
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