"This is an image of Nothando Chiwanga, whose name means “mother of love.” When I created African Victorian, I aimed to create a visual language which pays tribute to the contemporary being who is also rooted in history. I intentionally use African elements that have been filtered through a western medium and this symbolism illustrates a multifaceted identity. My subjects wear African dresses that have been transformed into Victorian regal attire. By reconfiguring the ‘African dresses as Victorian gowns’, I invert the power indexed by Victorian dress and I use clothing to unpick inherited binaries affecting our understanding of differences of the post-colonial identity. 

In my work I aim to offer different readings on the presence of the past, and the way it informs our perspectives on who we are today. Looking at it from this vantage point, I had to ask myself ‘where does perception start?’ Questioning my role and my responsibility as a photographer led me to challenge the perception -enhancing power of photography by highlighting narratives it missed along the way. With this in mind I conceived the idea to depict future facing images of black women while honoring the power of representation and the necessity of visibility."  —Tamary Kudita