Fabrice Monteiro’s Signares
On show at Seattle’s M.I.A Gallery through August 30th is Signares and Hereros, portraits shot by Fabrice Monteiro and Jim Naughten. While Naughten’s photos might be more recognizable, Monteiro’s are no less enchanting. The subjects of the model-turned-photographer’s first exhibit in the U.S. are descendants of the signares of Senegal’s Petite Côte, south of Dakar (where he lives and works). On what a signare is, exactly, the gallery’s site says, “These women of power from Senegal were the official wives of European colonizers…Celebrated for their beauty and business mind, they played an important role in the socio-economic development of Senegal.” And so this heritage is communicated through dress:
Unrelated work from Monteiro below. I can’t resist, they’re so good: