Pieter Hugo, Mr. Sam Okudzeto, Head Partner and Head of Chambers

Botswana, which gained independence from Britain in 1966, has a dual legal system, a combination of Roman Dutch Law and customary law. Up until 1992, judges of the High Court in Botswana were expatriate judges who were appointed on short-term contracts. Ghana, which was also a British colonial territory, gained its independence a decade earlier, in 1957. Its formal legal system is largely based on English common law. Both countries evidence a strong attachment to English legal ceremony and pageantry, notably through the continued use of wigs and gowns. At the time I was interested in ideas of tradition and spectacle. I photographed boy scouts in Liberia and soccer fans and traditional healers in South Africa and have always found it interesting how uniforms shift identities.