4th May 1997 @ Ms Sappho held at Club Chameleon in Orange Grove, Johannesburg.
L – R: Zanele Muholi & Wewe Ngidi.
Photo by Brendelie Mitchell

This is one of the memorable photos that I like most, taken at the Miss Sappho by Brendelie Mitchell. The beauty contest was hosted by Sistahs Kopanang, the defunct black lesbian organization that we were part of steered by Naomi Webster, Joe Mqithi &…
We were young, focused, fresh and sober. We loved  and respected women.
We are still intimate with womyn too.
Please don’t ask me where is the third princess and who the judges were cos I don’t remember.
Wewe Ngidi came first, I came second as you can see 2 in my flat chest. I decided to be femme for the night I guess that was impressed the judges and also answered the questions better.

The photo was captured with point and shoot 35mm fuji film plastic camera. Obviously that was before the digital age. I later studied photography at Market Photo Workshop.
One cannot just forget about where we come from and what shaped us to become the visual activists that we are today. The mo(ve)ments and experiences we shared with many friends marked our existence and resistance we had.

Both Wewe & I, are photographers, activists and we come from Umlazi, Durban, KwaZulu Natal. Also survivors…
Wewe features in my Faces & Phases series.

This one forms part of what I call a South African black – queer – visual history documented by insiders.

15 Years later, we are still here.

Wewe Ngidi, Observatory, Johannesburg (2009)
Photo by Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi, Vredehoek, Cape Town (2011)
Photo by Nhlaka Muholi