Wenzeni I, City Lodge Hotel, OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg

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Besides depicting their community in South Africa, Muholi has turned the camera onto themselves. Since 2014, they have produced an ongoing series of self-portraits called Somnyama Ngonyama, which translates from Zulu—an official language of South Africa and the artist’s first—to “Hail the Dark Lioness.” The self-portraits are captured in locations around the world, including Asia, Europe, and North America, and each place influences the picture’s composition and the garments Muholi adorns. In Loba V, Paris, for example, Muholi wears an overstated hairstyle and necklace produced from found materials that is reminiscent of haute-couture. The composition of the portrait, including Muholi’s pose, bears resemblance to fashion photography but also ethnographic studies. In nearly all their self-portraits, Muholi increases the contrast in postproduction to emphasize their black skin—a technical maneuver to signify the political significance of skin color in photography and to create slight discomfort from viewers as they gaze at the picture’s subject. In Wenzeni I, Muholi has wrapped themselves in what appears to be African fabric. However, given the title of the photo it is window dressings hanging in their hotel room. Here, Muholi coyly references loaded symbolism hidden in our understanding of fabrics, and how classification tends to occur before close observation.

Keywords

Transgender
Fabric
Gender
Black and White
Sexuality
Hair
Politics
Queer
Self portraits
Africa
Black Activist
African
Black