Kristin-Lee Moolman

Kristin-Lee Moolman’s photography is capturing the idea of a ‘new Africa’. Having grown up in a “backwards Afrikaans town” before the end of apartheid, her work explores issues like sexuality and segregation without being overtly political. Her world is a stark departure from traditionality and conservative attitudes in the region. “I’m not making work that’s gonna change our political system or contest anything,” she explained in a Dazed interview. “It’s more a celebration of people and a utopian approach to the future.”

Putting her friends and local creatives in front of the lens, Moolman deconstructs restrictive definitions of masculinity and femininity. What’s more, she places her gender-nonconforming subjects in mundane suburban landscapes, using a sun-bleached pastel aesthetic to tweak the everyday into the realms of the surreal. In short, Moolman is pushing to make the alternative the norm – and that in itself contests uniformity.

Kemi Alemoru