What connects a fashion sub-culture from the heart of Africa that defies extreme poverty with gang violence in a far off Central American country?

“The only common thread is me and my experience,” said award-winning photographer and storyteller Tariq Zaidi, who presented two of his renowned projects – ‘Sapeurs of the Congo’ and ‘El Salvador: A Nation Held Hostage’ at the sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival, which concludes Tuesday at Expo Centre Sharjah.

“I have documented what I aspired to see and show what the world hasn’t,” said Zaidi, while talking about his journey as a photographer who commenced in 2014 after he quit a full-time advertising job in London.

“My first photographic project was to document the Kazakh eagle hunters of Mongolia. The success of that project gave me the funding and the confidence for my future work that eventually led me to Africa,” he explained, describing how he traversed the continent for three years in search of a story that would encompass his idea of Africa.

“And I found what I was looking for in the twin Congolese capitals – Brazzaville and Kinshasa, where the colours, ingenuity, dreams and most importantly, the joie de vivre of La Sape, and how they use fashion to rise above their backdrop of daily despondency and poverty intrigued me,” said Zaidi.

La Sape,he explained, translates to the Society of Ambience-Makers & Elegant People, whose followers are known as the Sapeurs.

“They not only spread cheer in their societies but also wield enormous influence on their people.What is remarkable is that most hold ordinary day jobs as taxi drivers, tailors, and gardeners,” said Zaidi, explaining how they transform into “debonair dandies”after word,sashaying through the streets to a rock star’s welcome.

“In their emulation of the sartorial elegance of their French colonisers, what stood out for me was how it defined them against the stark backdrop of their poverty,” the Londoner said, while explaining how fashion attained a cult status after many Congolese began travelling to London and Paris in the 70s to return with a newly cultivated fashion and rockstar persona.

Zaidi also discussed his second book Sin Salida (No Way Out), that documents the impact of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) and its rival Barrio 18 gang members on El Salvador. “By depicting the gang members, police, murder sites, funerals, and the government’s war against the gangs, Itried to show the control that gangs have over the wider Salvadoran society, the violence through which they operate and the grief and loss resulting from the violence,” he said, while presenting ‘El Salvador: A Nation Held Hostage’.

“These photographs reveal how El Salvador has become a uniquely dystopian society, forcing thousands to migrate in the hope of a safer life elsewhere,” he said, while showcasing before a stunned audience a series of mind-numbing photos. “Through my images, I hope to amplify the voices of those Salvadoreans who have been left voiceless after being subjected to years of killings,” he concluded.