Why the matric ball is a rite of passage for South African teens

“It’s like the Met Gala!” Alice Mann exclaims, calling from her house in London. The Cape Town-born photographer is referring to South Africa’s matric balls, the country’s equivalent to prom, and with its custom made gowns, vintage cars, red carpets and overall buckets of glamour, I’m inclined to agree.

Since 2018, Mann has spent six years documenting these pivotal evenings across 15 school; now, it’s culminated in a photo book called The Night is Young, in which 17 and 18-year-olds dance, pose and flex on their friends in fancy eveningwear. The matric balls signify a large milestone for students and reaching the final year is an achievement in itself. Many drop out or struggle to achieve the grades to get there, but for those who do, it’s a night of celebration.

“A lot of my work is focused around youth in South Africa and I’m very interested in moments where people are using dress as a sort of performance,” the Cape Town born photographer says. ​“These [photographs] represent how people want to think of themselves so there’s an interesting level of aspiration there.”

Preparations for the big night start well in advance, with families saving up for custom clothes, beauty treatments and flashy rental cars that bring teenagers to the venue. ​“As I worked on this project over the years, fashion references would change annually,” Mann explains, ​“There was a point where we saw a lot of Kardashian Met Gala looks with mirrored sunglasses. I liked the universality of the way young people were borrowing [from global trends] and re-appropriating it for themselves.”

Much like the Met Gala, attendees arrive at the venue and step onto a red carpet, lined with crowds of friends, families, and neighbours before posing for photos, often shutting down streets in the process. Usually, a teacher with a microphone will MC the arrivals. Once inside, there’s usually dinner accompanied by ​“a really long speech” from a teacher before the tables are moved to the side for the party to really start.

“South Africans have an incredible energy,” Mann laughs. ​“In the beginning, there’s a little bit of awkwardness and they almost don’t even recognise each other [in all their glam]. But then later, the speakers get turned up loud and everyone goes to the dance floor. It’s like a catharsis from how crazy the whole day has been.”

As well as producing prints for the students, the photographer would sometimes also take photos for the school’s Facebook page or website (“I like when my images can be used by the people that I’m working with”), meaning she’d often get dragged onto the dance floor, too. ​“To try and actually get the shot was so difficult, because these moments were just completely chaotic! Even the teachers would get involved in dance circles.”

For Mann though, the hardest part was trying to be everywhere all at once. Matric balls either take place in May just before South Africa’s winter or from September, timed around students’ final exams. Often, several schools hold them on the same night. ​“I would end up either shooting three in a row, night by night or I’d have to choose,” she says. ​“In the end, I just tried to work with as diverse a range of schools as possible.”

Nothing compares to the close-knit bond the esteemed graduation ball brings to its students. ​“There’s layers to it,” Mann explains. ​“Obviously in the context of South Africa, being a young democracy with a very troubled history, there’s still a lot of physical separation between people, communities, and races. But this is a real joyous occasion. People are not immediately reduced to the context of their real lives, and I quite like that otherworldliness.”

The Night is Young is available for preorder now at IDEA books