Androgyny & South African Youth Culture: OATH Studio's Gorgeous Soweto-Shot Portraits
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.
South African photographer Kristen-Lee Moolman and creative director Gabrielle Kannemeyer recently teamed up to create a series of androgynous portraits capturing youth culture in Johannesburg for emerging designer Rich Mnisi’s SS16 OATH Studio lookbook. “We wanted to capture the essence of South African township culture in the 80s and 90s,” Moolman told Dazed Digital. “The culture of androgyny was at its peak, supported largely by the need to ‘show up’ (out do each other).”
The moody images were shot in Mnisi’s grandmother’s house in Chiawelo, Soweto, with an eclectic group consisting of Desire Marea (one half of queer performance art duo FAKA), professional model Janet Otobo and Wayne Stewart, a student they cast on the way to the shoot. The photographs came out raw, wistful and ultimately gorgeous.
See a few shots from the series below and check out the full lookbook via OATH Studio.
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.
OATH Studio's SS16 lookbook. Photography: Kristin-Lee Moolman. Styling Gabrielle Kannemeyer.