Zanele Muholi: 'My mother worked for a white family'

Zanele Muholi has been named the winner of the 2026 Hasselblad award. The South African artist, who identifies as non-binary, now takes their place among the world’s leading art photographers, from Carrie Mae Weems and Hiroshi Sugimoto to Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams.

When their 2020 survey at Tate Modern was stymied by pandemic restrictions, the gallery brought it back four years later; one critic likened their self-portraits to Rembrandt. Muholi says: “I can’t say it’s winning, because that’s like you entered a competition.

This is more a recognition, that is a dream for most of us who are doing photography or who are visualising a work that is not often recognised. It’s an honour for our people, for the Black LGBTQIA+ community from home – it’s for all of us, the queer and trans community in Africa.” For nearly 30 years Muholi has worked with and for a community that informs the work itself: commissioning, supporting and educating as much as documenting.

South Africa, Africa

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