Before South African high school students complete their final exams, they first walk the red carpet, pulling out all the stops for their celebratory matriculation, or ‘matric,’ balls. The dances may look different from school to school, but they have earned a reputation as mini Met Galas – from Bridgerton-themed dress codes with expensive gowns to grand entrances in classic cars to crowds of onlookers, all to make the biggest first impression for their big night out.
For five years, the South African photographer Alice Mann documented these lavish rites of passages; her portraits now in a new book called “The Night is Young,” published by IDEA. In her imagery, all-white banquet rooms are calm before the storm,…