Fashion and Storytelling: A Glimpse into African Culture at Brighton Photo Biennial
The Queen of Spades — Andile Biyana (2014) by Harness Hamese —
Whether it’s Kenya’s jet-setting grannies or Johannesburg’s street style battles, Africans have long found their voice in knowing how to dress sharp. This rich tapestry of fashion is beautifully explored in the latest exhibition at the Brighton Photo Biennial.
Whether it’s Kenya’s jet setting grannies or Johannesburg’s street style battles, Africans have long found their voice in knowing how to dress sharp.
Courtesy Harness Hamese
The Dandy Lion Project looks at African and diasporans who dress provocatively as dandies.“When I first started curating the exhibition I was really anti including any artists who are not of African descent. So I really wanted to look at dressing up not as a response to racism and discrimination but as a source of pride,” says curator Shantrelle Lewis.The exhibition will showcase around 150 images taken by more than 30 photographers over the past 10 years.Amongst them is budding South African photographer Harness Hamese.He started photographing South Africa’s street styles after meeting with a group of dandy enthusiasts named Khumbula.The nostalgic group like to dress up in vintage to represent a time in South African history where their parents dressed up as an expression of independence during apartheid.“We started Khumbula because we felt African stories are not told the way they should be told, the interpreters of our stories tell them the way their audience would like to receive them,” say the group.“I don’t want people to look at my photographs as part of the Dandy Lion project and only look at the clothes but the stories that come with the clothes,” says Hamese.
