Calendar Girls

My work focusses on the role of gender in society, specifically the representation deficit of marginalised communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. I often collaborate with the people in my pictures to ensure that the images I take portray their truth. The result is a visual representation that the ‘sitter’ is comfortable with.

The Miss Calendar Girl Beauty Pageant was founded in 2015, by Chedino, a trans-woman whose gender affirming transition I have been documenting since 2012. Chedino wanted to create an event where trans-girls can feel more comfortable entering and participating. Similar to the balls featured in ‘Paris is Burning’, pageants like Miss Calendar Girl provide normally ‘fringe’ members of South African society with a safe environment, a support network, and above all, a sense of community.

Inspired by the movie 'Priscilla - Queen of the desert' I took some of the pageant participants for a photoshoot into a salt pan outside of Cape Town where we spent a day taking pictures. All outfits and make up were designed and applied by the calendar girls themselves, and would be worn during the Miss Calendar Girl Beauty Pageant a few days later.