Faces and Phases 19

The body of work expands on Muholi’s ongoing Faces and
Phases photographic series. First begun in 2006 in South Africa, the prolific project now holds over 600 portraits intimately documenting new subjects from Los Angeles, London, São Paulo, Salvador and Porto.

Faces and Phases celebrates and commemorates the lives of Black lesbians, transgender and gender non-conforming communities. Many of these portraits are the result of sustained, collaborative relationships Muholi has formed with their subjects or ‘participants’, often returning to photograph the same person over time, capturing transient stages of life, loss, gender transition, grief, ageing and joy.

Coinciding with Los Angeles’ Pride Month, the newly-produced images form part of a living Queer archive, manifesting Muholi’s belief that “we express our gendered, racialised and classed selves in rich and diverse ways”.