Courtesy Hassan Hajjaj
A new exhibition is looking at the suave, camp and gloriously stylish world of the black male dandy. These dandies dress to flip conventional notions of class, taste, gender and sexuality.
Courtesy Jeffrey Henson-Scales
Black men have become influential trendsetters in fashion, music and culture, say the exhibit curators. But, says the curators, with visibility becomes vulnerability.
Courtesy of Autograph ABP
Black male dandyism against this background is compelling, argues exhibition curator Ekow Eshun. "It's quite striking that these men are making a conscious choice to be visible in this way.
Courtesy of Autograph ABP
He sees dandyism as a means of fighting stereotypes of black masculinity. "It's opening up a debate about how black men can represent themselves."
Courtesy The Larry Dunstan Archive
Eshun acknowledges that dandyism itself is superficial, but insists that the concept, when applied in racial terms, isn't just about style and clothing but transcends into politics. Many of the men are not dressed extravagantly, but it's about "shaping your identity on your own terms."
Courtesy J.M. Patras/Deutsche Bank Art Collection
Born in Cameroon, Samuel Fosso grew up in Nigeria, but fled from the Biafran war to Bangui, Central African Republic and set up his own studio at the early age of 13. At night, after he'd closed for business, Fosso would pose in tight shirts, short pants, and platform heels -- items of clothing banned under CAR's dictatorship.
Courtesy CAAC --The Pigozzi Collection, Geneva
The late Malick Sidibé captured the vibrancy and confidence of Mali's youths after the country's independence in 1960.
Courtesy Kristin-Lee Moolman
South African photographer Kristin-Lee Moolmann captures the androgynous style of townships in Soweto in the 80s and 90s. With tight flairs and chokers, these men unapologetically blur the lines between masculine and feminine.
Courtesy Liz Johnson-Artur
Russian-Ghanaian photographer Liz Johnson Atur documents black subcultures globally, from the British grime scene to Jamaica's reggae dancehalls, as well as the sartorial elegance of Congo's sapeurs.
Courtesy Hassan Hajjaj
"The black dandy is someone who has a big character, who is quite flamboyant. It takes a very special person to dress up like that," says Hassan Hajjaj who was born in Morocco but moved to the United Kingdom when he was 13.
Courtesy Hassan Hajjaj
Fashion designer Joe Casely-Hayford wears a suit made of canopy fabric, commonly used for little shops in Moroccan medinas. "Joe is a famous British fashion designer so it fitted very well in the context of the exhibition," says Hajjaj. Although they appear as studio portraits, most of Hassan Hajjaj's images are taken on the streets.
CNN  — 

Dressing, especially for black men, can be political. That’s according to a new exhibit at London’s Photographers’ Gallery, “Made You Look: Dandyism and Black Masculinity”.

“If you are a black man, you are judged on the basis of how you are dressed,” says the show’s curator, Ekow Eshun, who points to recent examples of African American men attacked based on appearance.

“Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman for looking ‘suspicious’ wearing a hoodie,” he adds.

In this new exhibit, Eshun focuses on the history of dandyism – from Mali’s sharp-looking party goers, to the sartorial rock stars envisioned by photographer Hassan Hajjaj.

courtesy Daniele Tamagni
Known as "Sapeurs," these dapper dressers are part of a Congolese subculture devoted to the cult of style. In Brazzaville and Kinshasa -- the capitals of neighboring Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- they stand out among the widespread poverty, strutting the streets like walking works of art.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
These week, "les Saps" gather for the annual commemoration of the death of Stervos Niarcos, the leader of the La Sape movement, at his grave in the Gombe cemetery in Kinshasa.

This image forms part of a new picture essay by photographer Junior D. Kannah, published by Getty Images.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
Every Sapeur has his own unique style. Pastel-colored or dark three-piece suit, cravat or bow tie, and cigars and pipes are de rigueur.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
"The Sapeur is also about masculinity, politics, changing the stereotypes about how people view Africa," says Didier Gondola, author of "History of the Congo."
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
Many Sapeurs rent or borrow clothes from fellow fops or get them from friends and relatives visiting from Europe.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
The acronym SAPE roughly translates from French as "The Society for the Advancement of Elegant People."
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
Sapeurs often dress up and meet in streets or bars for an informal contest. It's an occasion to show off the designer labels and unique combination of styles.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
In the 1970s, Western suits were prohibited. Even then, "les Sapeurs" rebelled by wearing aggressively non-conformist clothes.
Junior D. Kannah/AFP/Getty Images
Sapeurs say they aren't mere fashionistas - as many regard dapper dressing as a "political statement."
Errol Barnett/CNN
French, Italian, British, and Japanese fashion brands are the most sought-after. Some Sapeurs boast of spending $5,000 on a single suit. Imitations are not tolerated.
Errol Barnett/CNN
The attention to detail by "les Saps" tends to include a focus on jewelry, embroidery and color.

Dandyism as counter culture

Black men are simultaneously hyper visible and invisible to wider society, says Eshun.

“The dandy is a counter position to that, it is about resisting the stereotypes that are often invited upon black men,” he explains.

Eshun – a Ghanaian-British broadcaster and journalist who made history as the first black editor of a mainstream British style magazine (the now defunct Arena) – says the exhibit’s theme is close to home.

He recalls an incident with his father when someone called the police on them, though they were only sitting in a parked car.

“I had just turned 16, and with no prompting on my part, the idea of me as a threat seemed abruptly widespread. When I sat beside them on the tube [subway], women clutched their handbags a little closer.”

The exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery aims to show how, by the act of donning stylish attire, black men are defying stereotypes and committing acts of personal political rebellion. Black dandyism is “about confounding expectations of how black men should look” says Eshun.

Malick Sidibe, courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery
Malick Sidibé spent his nights photographing Mali's confident revelers.

Eshun chose images from as far back as 1904. One features a pair of dapper, young black Victorians, posing gallantly in their cravats. The exhibit also features Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, who was famous for his portraits of confident Malians post colonial rule, and the work of Kristin-Lee Moolman, who portrayed androgynous youths in Soweto’s townships.

Illegal bell bottoms

Even a simple act, like say, wearing bell bottoms, has at times been mired with intense political meaning. The photographer Samuel Fosso, who took customer portraits in his studio in Bangui, Central African Republic during the day, would by night turn the camera on himself. He would put on tight shirts, bell bottoms and platform boots.

Hassan Hajjaj
Hassan Hajjaj's "Kesh Angels" exhibition at the Taymour Grahne Gallery shows tradition mingling with modernity. It also counters stereotypes about Muslim women. "When Westerners see a women with the veil a lot of them think, 'Do they really ride a bike?'" Hajjaj says. "If these women were in Italy they would look past that."
Hassan Hajjaj
Hajjaj hoped to showcase Marrakech as it is, replete with its vibrant fashion and confident women. Here, a woman wears a traditional "djellabah" robe and poses on her Motobecane. "If you take a person who doesn't travel and who watches TV, they might view Morocco as another Syria or Iraq," Hajjaj says. "But it's its own country with its own vibe."
Hassan Hajjaj
And that vibe includes plenty of independent women. Marrakech motorcycle culture welcomes everyone and society does not look down on female riders. "Journalists often ask, 'What do you think of women being covered up?'" Hajjaj says. "I find that silly. It's traditional clothing. It's not like anyone is holding a staff over them."
Hassan Hajjaj
"Journalists call me asking if this is a real gang," Hajjaj says. "That is a misguided word that could scare people." He stresses that the woman in his photographs are painters, writers, dancers and mothers -- everyday people who happen to get around on motorbikes.
Hassan Hajjaj
Hajjaj has surrounded many of the images with inlaid wooden frames, in which he stocks cans of Pepsi, chicken stock, eyeliner, and matchboxes with Arabic script. The products give these foreign images a touch of the familiar, and also add a layer of kitsch. "I'm a '60s kid, so I'm celebrating Pop art," he says. "But it's Pop art from the Arab world."
Hassan Hajjaj
Hajjaj, who moved to London from Morocco at the age of 13, remembers how he and other immigrant children would sew name brand logos onto their jeans and shoes. That phenomenon transcends borders and time, as with these women who wear djellabah with the Nike swoosh. "In the so-called Third World there are many people wearing this to keep up with the Westerners," Hajjaj says.
Hassan Hajjaj
Hajjaj has been photographing Karima for 15 years. "She is one of my heroes," he says. "She does henna, is married, has two kids and works hard. She has swagger and speaks three languages."
Hassan Hajjaj
In 1984 Hajjaj owned a London fashion boutique called RAP, short for Real Artistic People. "Sometimes the women have their own clothes and I photograph them in things they are wearing," he says. "Sometimes I add on stuff."
Hassan Hajjaj
Finding locations for the photos came easy in Marrakech. "The medina and the new town were big inspirations," Hajjaj says. "Normally you have to fly seven hours from London to reach a place with such foreign style." He can be in Marrakech in half the time.
Hassan Hajjaj
Hajjaj believes the immigrant experience guides his work, and helps him see contrasts between foreign and familiar, modern and traditional. "Living between two places made me a bit of a misfit and gave me a different eye," he says. "What I left in Morocco I've highlighted with the work I do in London."

“All of the things he’s wearing in the images were banned,” explains Eshun. “So he’s almost sticking two fingers up at the establishment by playing dress up at night.”

Eshun acknowledges that dandyism itself is superficial but argues the concept, when applied in racial terms, isn’t just about style; it transcends into politics.

More poignantly, like Fosso, many of the men in the images are not dressed particularly extravagantly says Eshun. But it’s a “knowingness that you are shaping your identity on your own terms.”

‘Made You Look: Dandyism and Black Masculinity’ runs until 25 September 2016 at The Photographers’ Gallery