Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness at Pearl Lam Galleries

Expressive and bold self-portraits by South African photographer and activist present a challenging exploration of characters and archetypes, belonging and alienation, objectivisation and identity.
These photographs were made in different locations, often during travels, so the usage of places and objects as attributes that are helping to tell and develop the story make them akin to site specific performances.
Personally I was intrigued by the striking contrast between Zanele Muholi being a subject matter of a portrait and having full control over their self representation, I feel it was achieved by their powerful gaze.
I was told that mostly visitors strongly prefer one group of self portraits over the other — either more simple or overly fashionized — I feel there should be some psychological explanation, but since I liked them both my chances of making groundbreaking discovery are thin on the ground.

Gallery address: 6/F, Pedder Building, Central
Exhibition period: 18 May – 15 August