It is the way the beaded braids fall across their face, the delicate shimmer of the sequin-dusted sleeve, caught in the light, that pulls me into this image. A longer look brings other things into focus: two, three, four hands – attached to figures who fit around one another in a perfectly formed composition. Soft pastel colours, a splash of red, shiny fabrics and faces obscured in the dark: this still moment, punctured by an unreturned gaze, makes the world stop in an otherwise exuberant club night.  

Part of Temiloluwa Johnson’s series Heavenly Bodies, this photograph documents the LGBTQ+ community and underground drag ballroom scene in Lagos, Nigeria. In a country where same-sex relations are punishable with up to 14 years in prison and it is forbidden to operate, support or participate in gay clubs and societies, Johnson’s joyous documentation of these electric queer nights is a bold refusal of invisibility.

TEMILOLUWA JOHNSON is a photojournalist and storyteller from Lagos and based in Ibadan, Nigeria. Temiloluwa’s work is centered around identity, social & cultural expression, and environmental issues— typical human condition.  An emerging photographer in the field, her work has been recognized by the PictureThis contest organized by Sony Pictures and the World Photography Organization, and has been featured in print/online at Photovogue, The Continent, Autostraddle, Gettyimages, The Republic and others. She is a 2025 World Press Photo Winner; the only Nigerian and overall youngest on the list. Temmy is a 2024 Finalist for Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant and Magnum Photos Beyond The Silence Project. She hopes that with every photo, she tells a story that resonates.  

JILKE GOLBACH is a curator and editor at Foam, Amsterdam, where she edits Foam Magazine Online and curated Augusta Curiel: Yere Mi Sten (2025). She has previously worked as a curator at the Rijksmuseum, Museum of London, and Barbican Art Gallery. She holds a PhD in Critical Heritage Studies from University College London and has a specific interest in art and photography at the intersection of personal narratives and systemic critique. Her writing has been published by Phaidon, Prestel, Hoxton Mini Press, Contrasto, 1000Words and The Eyes, amongst others.