Faces and Phases: Zanele Muholi

the long version

Award-winning photographer Zanele Muholi's images offer a bold stance against the stigmatization of lesbian and gay sexualities in Africa and beyond. The 'Faces and Phases' series of black and white portraits by Zanele Muholi focuses on the commemoration and celebration of black lesbians' lives. Muholi embarked on this project in 2007, taking portraits of women from the townships in South Africa. In 2008, after the xenophobic and homophobic attacks that led to the mass displacement of people in that country, she decided to expand the ongoing series to include photographs of woman from different countries. Collectively, the portraits are an act of visual activism. Depicting women of various ages and backgrounds, this gallery of images offers a powerful statement about the similarities and diversity that exist within the human race.