Fabric of Woman: Crowning Glory

 

 

I recently discovered the work of Polish  photographer, Casimir Zagourski, who explored the African continent from 1924 to 1941. He was dedicated to capturing images from the rich cultures of the peoples living in vast areas surrounding what was called Belgian Congo. His photographs show a time before the influence of imported Western civilizations. Some of the ceremonies and ornamentation captured in his work no longer exist. Zagourski called this work Lost Africa.

Inspired by Zagourski’s work, I created this series, Crowning Glory. Through my travels and research, I have witnessed the ornamentation of the female crown as an expression of culture, status, beauty and survival. In my work, I envision the rebirth of the African woman as the steward of cultural traditions inundated by the impacts of colonialism and globalization. We witness the adornment of the female as a cross-cultural phenomenon and I present these images crowning the glory of the African woman as a composite of profiles of the past and her power in the present and future through her expansive intellectualism, imagination and strength in society.

Some of these images are composed with original portraits from my travels to West Africa, while others borrow elements from the portraiture work of Zagourski, and the surreal realm of imagination.