“LIBAYA”

An exclusive collaboration with Dutch-Congolese Nsimba Valene Lontanga, founder of the made in Africa women’s wear brand LIBAYA. Barlinckhoff took the current collection to Ghana, where she found her muses in a mother and her two daughters and shot a series of images that express the strength of feminine love and the intimacy of family ties.

“Growing up in an orphanage left me looking for love, and this sense of wanting to belong gave me an admiration of siblings and families. I think it’s beautiful to see families together, especially in a culture where community is so important,” says Barlinckhoff. “When I met Mary, Grace and Fafali, who live in a small fisherman’s town outside Accra, our admiration for each other was instant. The power I feel within my body and soul is infinite and that power is strengthened when shared with other women. I wanted to capture their beauty and Libaya’s pure aesthetic together. In other words, we are not separate. We define each other - we’re all backs and fronts to each other.”

Photography and Art Direction: Anne Barlinckhoff
Starring: Mary and her daughters Fafali and Grace