Based in Johannesburg, photographer Karabo Mooki showcases an authentic and honest side of life in South Africa with his photographs. Exploring race, gender, sexuality, and class, his work celebrates the power that thoughtful images hold — “utilizing the multilayered qualities that leave the audience with more ambiguous questions than steadfast answers.”

Centered around themes of Black identity, equality in sport, representation, and inclusion, Mooki’s recent series, “Island Gals,” documents young Black female skateboarders in South Africa, who are reclaiming spaces and identities that women have previously been excluded from. Led by Thato Moet, the Island Gals are declaring their right to occupy public spaces in protest of South Africa’s tumultuous history of gender-based violence. They are reconstructing the narrative of what it means to be Black women in skateboarding, and shifting the paradigm for future generations in so doing.

See more from “Island Gals” below!