Words by Anele Nyanda There is a quiet poetry in the way fashion and photography coalesce, the way fabric finds permanence through the lens, and the way the camera discovers narrative within the textures, silhouettes, and gestures that constitute a garment. This poetry is not only something to be observed it is something one needs to walk and “live” through. To step into Fashion_The Image is to be pulled into motion, to be awakened. The photographs in the room do not unfold

As part of the Fashion_The Image programme, eight writers were selected to work with the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography, Wanted, and the African Fashion Research Institute to develop written responses that critically engage with the exhibition. As part of her research, writer Bella Makhubo interviewed Kevin Mackintosh, resulting in a thoughtful and insightful conversation with the industry expert. Her piece, Finding the Frame: Kevin Mackintosh on Craft, Identity, and th

The Idea: The Writer-in-Residence programme was a month-long opportunity for emerging creatives to engage with Fashion_The Image through research, writing, and direct access to the exhibition’s unique public programme. Designed for early-career practitioners working in fashion, photography, fine art and literature, the residency invited eight talented participants to immerse themselves in critical conversations surrounding African fashion photography. The Writers: Our co-hor

An essay by the African Fashion Research Institute (AFRI) DR ERICA DE GREEF, JOHANNESBURG, FEBRUARY 2026 Fashion images matter. They act as evidence, as sites of material, socio-political and cultural knowledges. Paintings, and portraits in particular, precluded the words that fill fashion textbooks as the site of culture, aesthetics and the material representations of the day. Photographs now fill the textbook, their promise of truth eclipsing the speed of the fashion sketc