Zanele Muholi has won the prestigious 2026 Hasselblad, an international photography award presented annually in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Source: Online/https://awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/zanele-muholi/
- Zanele Muholi won the 2026 Hasselblad Award for their photography and activism.
- Muholi’s works, “Somnyama Ngonyama” and “Faces and Phases”, celebrate identity, race and queer communities.
- The Hasselblad Foundation commended Muholi’s work for bringing activism and community work to the forefront of their practice.
Renowned South African photographer and visual activist Zanele Muholi has won the 2026 Hasselblad Award, the prestigious international photography prize presented annually in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The award, established in 1980, recognises photographers for major achievements, including artistic impact and influencing future generations, and is regarded as the “Nobel Prize” of photography.
Muholi, who identifies as non-binary, said they are honoured to have done something that is received and respected, allowing them a space to represent the community they are a part of.
“I look at myself as the person who has risked my life for so many years, and I think of the community that’s existed way before I was born,” said Muholi.
As part of the award, Muholi will take home 2 million Swedish krona (about R3.5 million), a gold medal and a Hasselblad camera. They will also get an opportunity to showcase their work in a solo exhibition at the Hasselblad Center from October this year until April 2027.
This is set to take place alongside various events in Gothenburg and Stockholm, including a concert, a book launch, a seminar, an award ceremony and an artistic talk.
Muholi said the prize does not belong to them alone – winning the award is a testament to the people in front of the camera and the stories they have entrusted Muholi to tell.
“I’m honoured and humbled in many ways, and grateful to every single person who ever stood in front of me and allowed me to photograph them, to every single person who ever taught with my work, and believes in what I do and what we are as a community.”
An archive of untold stories with every shutter
Born in 1972 during apartheid rule, Muholi has a deep understanding of the power of storytelling and representation in standing up against systemic violence.
Their photographs are formally compelling, using composition, colour, black-and-white, and lighting to create an effective visual language that conveys both strength and vulnerability.
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Muholi said their work goes beyond being born at a certain time in South Africa: it is important to consider every narrative, as each tells a unique story which needs to be shared among the youth and future generations.
Muholi said:
Nobody suggested the importance of black archives or black history. Nobody spoke to us about why we needed to produce and save stories of our grandmothers, stories of our communities, stories of where we come from, from churches to schools.
“Most Bantu education has no visual archive that speaks to where we come from and how that lost narrative triggers every time I click a shutter button. So I think that we should make sure that our youth get it.”
For more than two decades, Muholi’s work has focused on visibility and resistance through portraits and other art forms, supporting black LGBTQIA+ people in their fight to exist freely. It has also been about creating an archive to create awareness. Muholi said that this recognition affirms that their lives are worthy of being seen beyond statistics and shadows, but as full human beings.
Muholi said they were inspired to use photography to share these stories because of the “lack of visible content that is tangible, that speaks to us as a people, as black people, specifically, challenging the notions”.
The Hasselblad Foundation commended Muholi’s work for bringing activism and community work to the forefront of their practice, making them a leader in queer visual culture worldwide.
“It’s about existence and resistance of the people. So I resist in order to make sense. I exist to bring forth change that I want to see within the communities and the spaces that I occupy,” said Muholi.
‘Powerful and significant works’
Hasselblad Foundation CEO Kalle Sanner said the foundation is looking forward to presenting a wide variety of Muholi’s work this autumn at the Hasselblad Center.
Sanner said:
It is with great pleasure that we award Zanele Muholi the 46th Hasselblad Award. In their artistic practice, Muholi combines photography with activism, creating powerful and significant works in which human rights are central.
Some of Muholi’s most influential and celebrated projects are their Somnyama Ngonyama and Faces and Phases series.
Somnyama Ngonyama uses stylised self-portraits to reflect on African identity, black representation and cultural issues that affect black women.
“It’s a way in which I present myself. I deal with all that makes me feel uneasy, deal with my flaws, but also, you know, affirming my own beauty,” said Muholi.
Faces and Phases documents black lesbian, transgender and gender-nonconforming people, creating an ongoing record of identity and community. Somnyama Ngonyama – meaning “Hail the Dark Lioness” – is a series of striking self-portraits in which Muholi explores themes of race, labour, identity and representation.
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The portrait series, which began in 2006, celebrates black queer South African communities by uplifting them and archiving new horizons in queer self-representation.
“Those people matter to me. To brave beauties, beautiful trans women that define my narrative – that speaks to my own healing.”
For audiences around the world attending the exhibition, Muholi hopes they learn more about who they are and where they come from.
“Let’s produce content with a purpose or responsibly and do away with scandals.
“Let’s make sure that we share resources in order for this produced work to be published.”
If you have a proudly South African story to tell, email feelgood@news24.com.