archival ink print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag

Artwork date: 2017
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by artist
Edition: number 2 from an edition of 8

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image size: 80 x 80 cm; sheet size: 83 x 83 cm unframed

Born and raised in Madagascar, documentary photographer Miora Rajaonary is currently based in Mauritius. Through her work, she focuses on social issues and identities in contemporary Africa, striving to find new angles and stories on the continent.

Rajaonary studied Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg. She is a National Geographic Explorer and was awarded the Juror’s Choice of the 2019 edition of THE FENCE; the First Prize of the Addis Foto Fest’s portfolio review in December 2018; and was one of four winners of the inaugural Getty x Array Grant in July 2018. In 2016, she was selected to participate in the World Press Photo Masterclass East Africa.

Her work has been exhibited at The Photoville FENCE (USA); Pen and Brush (New York City, USA); Addis Foto Fest (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia); the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (New York City, USA); Stanford University (CA, USA) and the Alliance Française Network, Southern Africa. She has received commissions from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, BBC/PRI, WOZ Die Wochenzeitung, Causette Magazine, The Africa Report/Jeune Afrique Group, Deutsche Press Agentür, and Marie Stopes International.

Hanta, a Sakalava woman from Antanimalandy in Northwest Madagascar, in her lamba garment in December 2017. She wears the Malagasy traditional mask, the Masonjoany, made from the same tree that grows on the west coast of Madagascar. “This is my favourite outfit, I feel proud and empowered when I wear it.”

A lamba is the traditional garment worn by men and women in Madagascar. The textile, highly emblematic of Malagasy culture, consists of a rectangular length of cloth wrapped around the body. Through the series LAMBA, Rajaonary explores the ways in which this Malagasy garment serves as a valued symbol of the island’s cultural heritage, beyond its role as elegant and ornamental clothing – cloth is offered in return for blessings, or to demonstrate ethnic identity, status and ties of mutual respect, love and loyalty. For example, men offer cloth to their brides at marriage; bride and groom are encircled in a single cloth to symbolise their union; and descendants honour their ancestors by wrapping their remains in a lambamena, the silk burial shroud, during traditional rites.

The project takes form as a portrait series inspired by the tradition of African studio portraiture, shot with a medium-format film camera. For each photograph, a lambahoany (printed cotton lamba typically featuring a proverb on the lower border of the design, presently the most commonly worn type of lamba) is used as a backdrop.

The LAMBA project was awarded the inaugural Getty x Array Grant, as well as Juror’s Choice of The FENCE in 2019. The series has been exhibited at Pen and Brush, New York City (2019, 2021); Photo Vogue Festival, Milan (2019); Photoville (New York City) and The Photoville FENCE (multiple locations in the USA).