For over a decade, South African photographer Zanele Muholi’s portraits of black lesbian and transgender individuals have powerfully confronted a cultural history of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQIA community. In their ongoing series, Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), Muholi becomes their own subject by transforming into a variety of characters that reference the politics of identity and the compounded suppression experienced as a result of both racism and homophobia. By exaggerating the darkness of their skin tone, Muholi presents an alternative visual history that celebrates the beauty of black skin within the visual lexicon of classical painting and fashion photography.