Lee-Ann Olwage

Lee-Ann Olwage

Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie, a drag artist and activist, poses at a shisanyama—a community space where women cook and sell meat—in Khayelitsha, a township located on the Cape Flats, near Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 August 2019.

Belinda, the photographer, and other black, queer, gender non-conforming and transgender people collaborated in a project to decolonize drag culture and find a particularly African expression of drag. The aim was also to highlight the need for the African lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (LGBTQ+) community to find their identities irrespective of their backgrounds, and to reclaim the public space in a community where they are subject to discrimination, harassment and violence. Discrimination is part of everyday life for LGBTQ+ people in townships such as Khayelitsha, especially in public areas. A survey of 2,000 LGBTQ+ people by South African rights organization OUT found that within a two-year period, 39% had been verbally insulted, 20% threatened, 17% chased or followed, and nearly 10% physically attacked.

Lee-Ann Olwage is a visual storyteller from South Africa who uses collaborative storytelling to explore themes relating to gender and identity. She is interested in using the medium of photography as a mode of celebration and aims to create a space where people she collaborates with can play an active part in the creation of images, they feel tells their stories in a way that is affirming and celebratory. 

Her work has been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, Vogue, The British Journal of Photography, Foam magazine, Geo, Der Spiegel, Stern, The Guardian, Atmos, Vanity Fair, Dazed and Wired. Notable awards include a World Press Photo Awards (2020, 2023 and 2024), Sony World Photography Award (2023), International Women in Photo Award Laurette (2023), Winner of This Is Gender (2021), Pride Photo Award (2021), CAP Prize winner (2022).