Roger Ballen Centre for Photography and Inside Out Centre for the Arts, presents Fashion_The Image
Opening on the 28th February 2026, The Inside Out Foundation presents Fashion_The Image, a major new photographic exhibition examining how fashion imagery has shaped visual culture in South Africa and across the continent. Presented across two interconnected centres in Forest Town, Johannesburg, the exhibition brings together photography, film, installation and an expansive public programme to celebrate fashion photography as one of the most influential visual languages of the last five decades.
Curated by Sharon Armstrong in partnership with Aspasia Karras, Editor of Wanted Magazine, in collaboration with Dr Erica de Greef and Ayabukwa Magocoba from the African Fashion Research Institute, Fashion_The Image is conceived as a wide-ranging survey of fashion photography’s development on the continent. Bringing together archival imagery, new work and unseen commissions, the exhibition positions Johannesburg as a vital site for the study, production and presentation of fashion imagery in Africa – not as a peripheral outlier, but as a place where visual language on the continent is formed, tested and exported.
Photography At The Centre Of The Image
Photography sits at the heart of the exhibition. Fashion_The Image foregrounds the photographers and filmmakers whose images defined key moments in African fashion. Presenting editorial spreads, campaign imagery, fashion films and experimental collaborations that have circulated globally and endured over time, the exhibition treats fashion imagery not as a surface spectacle, but as a commercial medium with lasting cultural power. The images move fast, reach wide audiences and leave behind a visual record of who we are and how we choose to be seen.
Participating photographers and filmmakers include Pieter Hugo, Kevin Mackintosh, Nadine Ijewere, Nontsikelelo Veleko, Kristin-Lee Moolman, Nico Krinjo, Aart Verrips, Tatenda Chidora, Andile Buka and others whose images have defined key moments in African fashion locally and internationally. These works sit alongside the designers they collaborated with, including Thebe Magugu, Rich Mnisi, Maxhosa, David Tlale, Gert Johan Coetzee, Viviers, Naked Ape, Row G, Africa Your Time Is Now, Nao Serati, Uniform, Ephymol, Superella, Chulaap, Clive Rundle and many others.
Fashion_The Image also brings into view the often unseen industry behind the image, stylists, editors, producers, set designers, hair and make-up artists, casting directors and technical crews, recognising fashion photography as a collective act. Every image on display is presented with full authorship and credits, acknowledging the many hands and minds involved in shaping a visual culture that has travelled far beyond the page.
Exhibition Details
Fashion_The Image
-Dates: 28 February – 30 May
-Venues: Roger Ballen Centre for Photography and Inside Out Centre for the Arts
-Address: 2 Duncombe Road, Forest Town, Johannesburg
The exhibition is proudly realised with the support of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture, the Presidential Employment Stimulus Fund, the National Arts Council, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS), and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
