Aftermath
2004 TW: Rape, Corrective Rape, Sexual Assault Aftermath is one of six photographs from Muholi's 'only half the picture series', which documents the survivors of hate crimes across South Africa. The series acts as a foundation for their later work, showing that they are not afraid to capture difficult topics. The image shows the legs of a person wearing briefs, covering their genitals, hiding them from the viewer. The immediate element of the image is the scar on the models leg, which along with the title, creates a sense of fear for the viewer, questioning what is the event that caused the scar to be created. The viewer later finds out, through context, that the model is a victim of corrective rape (a term used to describe a hate crime in which a person is raped because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. The intention is to enforce heterosexuality and gender conformity). After finding out this factor, the viewer immediately feels sympathy for the model and the positioning of the hands becomes clearer. |
Miss D'vine
2007 These portraits are part of Muholi's Being series where they take photos of gender non conforming individuals in public spaces. Miss D'vine is a drag queen, who in the image (right), is wearing a South African garb, chosen to subvert traditional gender roles. Muholi writes:‘These photographs examine how gender-queer identities and bodies are shaped by – but also resist, through their very existence – dominant notions of what it means to be black and feminine.’Although the background of the images are equally as important as the models themselves.By taking these photos in public spaces it normalises gender non conformity,but also many of the locations are taken in areas key to South Africas history with apartheid. For example, some are taken at Constitutional Hill, deliberately taken to show the countries move towards democracy, others are taken on beaches, which where segregated during apartheid. By taking these images it show show important racial identities and gender non conformity need to be normalised in South Africa and the impact of apartheid is still intact. |