Kristen-Lee Moolman’s work is based in a utopian Africa; a fictional mythology is shaped. Fantastic characters inhabit her colorful world and their stories are narrated with her lens. In her world segregation and sexuality are explored.
As female South African photographer known for her work that blurs the lines between documentary photography and fashion photography, Kristen-Lee sometimes explores ideas relating to effeminacy. Featured in her constructed utopia are popular faces amongst the South African creative scene such as Joe Turpin, Desire Marea, Nicci Saint Bruce and Fela Gucci to name a few.
Moolman grew up in what she describes as a backwards-Afrikaans town before the end of apartheid in the Karoo region. She feels as though she still has some political confusion as a result of this. In her constructed world that she presents to her viewer in the form of photographs, she does not strive to make political commentary.
In 2016 she worked with London stylist, Ibrahim Kamara during his Johannesburg residency on the exhibition 2026. More recently she was the photographer for HBA’s SS17 lookbook. Moolman’s work has a very defined feeling, and her images cannot be easily mistaken for that of any other photographer.
An ever-present element in her work is sunshine that fades out the backdrops of her portraits and transforms the costumes of her models to surreal outfits. This characteristic is emphasized by her use of bland and unremarkable locations as the setting for her shoots.
Her subjects can be seen portrayed outside of car washes and garages, spread out on satin-sheeted beds or reclining on plastic upholstered sofas. Her backdrops and choice of styling can be said to be campy and kitsch yet it retains refinement in the way that her characters are posed.
Her work, even though refined keeps an element of grime and edge, that is maintained by her choice of subject matter which consists of musicians, dancers, actors and artists.
Moolman who is not only a photographer but also a video artist, created images in collaboration with Kamara for 2026 that is described in an interview with Dazed as confrontational. This exhibition that was turned into a book examines the fragile relationship between the body of the black African male and his sexuality, masculinity and men’s fashion. The exhibition, now in hard copy, showcases to its viewer the manner in which clothes can be utilized to establish identity.
Kristin is a member of the New Africa movement consisting of artists from Africa and the diaspora. The aim of New Africa is to create an innovative aesthetic exploring themes surrounding identity and belonging.
In speaking about her own work Moolman says: “The one thing I will never do is disempower a person in my imagery, I always try to empower people. I will never try to make them look like any stereotype that people may have about us here”.
Her images give its viewer awareness of her world constructed with subjects that are friends or people she met through social media. Obstructing conservative viewpoints and traditional cultural stereotypes held in South Africa, her subjects demonstrate multifaceted sexual and gender identities.
Moolman was listed as part of Dazed 100 photographers to look out for. She breaks the restrictive way that femininity and masculinity are defined with imagery that pushes boundaries. Her non-binary subjects are carefully curated in stale landscapes. Everyday imagery is pushed into the surreal with her use of a sun soaked pastel aesthetic. In her world she contests uniformity by striving to make what is regarded as unusual the norm.
