Lee-Ann Olwage - #BlackDragMagic
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage01Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie poses in a dress that resembles the white blankets worn by Xhosa men during the traditional circumcision ceremony. Ka-Fassie was raised by her grandmother, a political activist who introduced her to the work of South African civil rights leader Steve Biko. 
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage02Mandisi Dolle Phika, who grew up in an extremely religious family and was once told she was possessed by a "gay demon," asked to pose in front of a church for Lee-Anne Olwage's photo series.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage03Lee-Anne Olwage created \#BlackDragMagic in collaboration with Cape Town drag artist Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie. 
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage04Unathi Ferguson, a dancer from the Khayelitsha township, poses on a pile of rubble. “I play with both masculinity and femininity to prove that gender is a social construct,” Ferguson says.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage05"The township is a very dangerous place for queer people to express themselves," says South African photographer Lee-Ann Alwage.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage06Mthulic Vee Vuma poses wearing traditional Xhosa female clothing and holding a beaded stick used in marriage ceremonies. “The meaning of the clothing I am wearing is to love and accept our culture,” Vuma says.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage07Liyana Arianna Madikizela, a drag artist from the Kayamandi township, wanted her portrait to challenge traditional gender stereotypes. “I am a gender-nonconforming body and I want to be a role model to future generations of queers," Madikizela says.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage08Liyana Arianna Madikezela and Shakira Mabika say they experience lots of difficulties being drag queens in South African townships, where they are regularly subjected to catcalls and harassment. “Education is the only way we can survive,” Madikezela says. “When you are educated you earn respect in the township regardless of what you are.”
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage09Liyana Arianna Madikizela poses in a bridal outfit in front of a *tshisanyama*, a community space where women buy and sell meat. "Living in the township has taught me to be strong and strive," Madikizela says. "I have dealt with stigma and hate, and am now stronger." 
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage10Mthulic Vee Vuma poses in traditional Xhosa clothing at the *tshisanyama* meat market.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage11Mandisi Dolle Phika, who studies LGBTQI political leadership at Cape Town's Victory Institute, poses at a *tshisanyama* meat market in the Khayelitsha township. "I carry my Africanness and my queerness on my sleeve because it is who I am," she says. 
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage12Professional drag performer Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie came up with the idea for this series in collaboration with photographer Lee-Ann Olwage. “My performances are inspired by the human condition, or rather the ‘black queer condition,'” Ka-Fassie says.
Photograph: Lee-Ann Olwage13The six subjects who participated in the series pose for a group portrait at a taxi stand in the Khayelitsha township.
