Calendar Girls

For the past 10 years, I have been documenting the lives of female activists and their personal struggles to encourage change in the communities in which they live. My work focusses often on social justice and the role of women in sub-Saharan Africa society. The resulting body of work highlights the successes of incredible women who are smashing glass ceilings. Some of the women actively campaign for change. Others encourage change by setting an example. But all, in their own way, work hard to change the way they are viewed by the world around them. 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.