Pictures of the week: Freetown Fashion by Jo Dunlop

Freetown, Sierra Leone, is a capital more commonly associated with poverty, political instability and civil war than with fashion. But development worker, and amateur photographer, Jo Dunlop is attempting to skew the record, at least a little, in the other direction.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

She moved there in 2011 to work for Unicef, and was struck almost instantly by the flamboyant street fashion (freetownfashpack.com).→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

People sport fedoras, headscarves and headwraps, teaming them with extravagant patterned fabrics and pop colours, paying little attention to annoying diktats about what goes with what. Style, not fashion, rules.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

West Africa has a tradition of bold, colourful textiles. Coupled with a strong hip-hop culture, particularly among Freetown’s dapper young okada (motorbike taxi drivers), and a huge secondhand clothing market, it means outrageous, playful and inventive sartorial decisions are the norm.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

Even Ramadan doesn’t restrain the population of this largely Muslim country: sparkly, neon hijabs sit alongside exquisitely embroidered robes. It’s a relatively liberal country; many women wear a veil only during the holy month or when they visit a mosque.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

Freetowners are eager models, friendly and approachable, striking poses for Dunlop with little persuasion.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

For the Christian minority, Sunday morning is the time to smarten up. Men often wear loose, loud “5,000 decibel” shirts and smart slacks; women choose between traditional African matching skirts and blouses or western-style dresses with a smart hat.→ Photograph: Jo Dunlop

In Dunlop's professional work, she encounters much of the negative side of Africa, as reported in the west. For her blog, she reveals the other side of Sierra Leone. Photograph: Jo Dunlop