I first noticed this series of portraits by Phyllis Galembo on FFFFound.com and quickly dismissed them as another totally wacked take on African fashion, pattern and culture. This was 6 months ago. The images are still haunting me, which owes partly to their brilliance and why I chose to feature them. Phyllis Galembo’s photographs participants from both traditional African ceremonies and contemporary carnivals or festivals in Zambia, Nigeria, Benin, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Haiti. The portraits are vivid and imaginative. They document the transformative power of costume and mask to create mythical, dark and sometimes humorous characters.