The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
May 2015 back issue
by Ian McNaught Davis
Throughout Africa, there is a continuous presence of white mannequins. Shop windows and marketplaces are
occupied by bald and unblinking plastic figures that wear anything from traditional clothing to misappropriated charity
clothing shipped from developed countries.
For the past seven months, I have been cycling through Africa and I have developed a fascination for these figures,
and how fantastically out of place they are. They could be thesis fodder for Frantz Fanon scholars, and for others, it
could be just a good place to hang the clothes you want to sell.
A mannequin-vendor lays out his wares for other vendors to rent. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
A shop assistant in a Chinese shop in Montagu, South Africa.
Midday in the Bulawayo market. Zimbabwe.
A former concentration camp-turned-children’s party venue. Uitenhague, South Africa.
A vendor dresses her mannequin as she sets up her stall. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
A shop window in Grahamstown, a former British outpost
in South Africa.
Meeting in the main street. Willowmore, South Africa.
A wig shop in Port Shepstone, South Africa.
Hassamal’s clothing and uniform shop. Zimbabwe.
A broken mannequin lies in the Bulawayo market. Zimbabwe.
A man waits outside Streethouse Clothing in Rundu, Namibia.
