How underground ballroom scene is rewriting queer visibility

WHEN Temiloluwa Johnson says, “it’s always a good day to be queer”, one almost expects a sardonic laugh to follow. Particularly given that the young photojournalist is based in Nigeria, a country long renowned for being repressively anti-queer. The West African country’s Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act carries with it sentences of up 14 years imprisonment for those found guilty of consensual same-sex sexual relations.

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The Act also imposes a 10-year prison sentence on anyone who “registers, operates or participates in gay clubs, societies and organisation” or “supports” the activities of such organisations. Despite this repressive context, queer folk and their allies across the West African nation continue to seek, find and create safe spaces for gathering and self-expression.

An example of this is Lagos’s ballroom events. It is one of these “good day to be queer” events that Johnson turned her lens to, and ultimately led to the creation of a moving collection of photographs, titled Heavenly Bodies. Her efforts saw her scooping this year’s World Press Photo Contest Award, in the Africa Singles category - a mere 12 months into her career as a photographer.

Carl Collison (CC): Let's talk about the balls. I have been covering queer Africa for years, but I did not know... I maybe naively didn’t expect there to be a ball culture in Nigeria...

Temiloluwa Johnson (TJ): I also don’t know. It just blew my mind when I (found out). I also did not know until 2023... In 2023, there was a ball, but I did not attend because I had an exam to write. I was so sad. (Laughs) Thankfully, it was because I was moving around with the queer people that I found online. It was also that year that I came into my sexuality.

So, I started to look for a community to move around with and... they gave me that ‘chosen family’ kind of love there. So, I used to get invited to events and, in 2024, the founder, the curator of that event, reached out and was like, ‘Oh, there's this ball going on. Are you free to attend?’It happened on the 21st of June, 2024. And I'm glad that I went.

CC: I heard that you went through quite a lot to attend the event. Like, traffic and rain and sickness.