Despite winning the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, 27-year-old South African photographer Alice Mann is incredibly humble. When AP met her at the press view of the awards – the morning after she found out she’d won the £15,000 prize – it’s clear that the news was still sinking in.
The enthusiasm she has for the subjects of her prize-winning series, Drummies, is infectious. It’s fascinating to hear her speak with such eloquence about the project, which depicts South Africa’s all-female drum majorette community. Many of her subjects come from the country’s most marginalised communities.
‘I think, for me, being a South African photographer, I’m very aware of the stereotypes which are reiterated a lot,’ she explains. ‘I kind of try to challenge that and present alternate ideas. I think,…