This year's Hasselblad Prize winner Zanele Muholi leaves nothing to chance. Each object in Muholi's photographs tells a story.
Water speaks to a time in South Africa when black people were not allowed to swim in the same water as white people. It wasn't until the late 1980s that the beaches were open to everyone, Muholi says.
Muholi, born in 1972 during the apartheid regime, has a strong awareness of the power of storytelling in the face of systematic violence and oppression, something the Hasselblad Prize jury emphasizes in its justification:
“By combining political engagement with artistic precision, Zanele Muholi has become a central voice within global queer visual culture.”
Stand up
With Muholi's art, Muholi wants to focus on human rights, among other things.
I want the world to know who we are and acknowledge us, so that the next generation of South Africans can be brave enough to stand up for themselves.
Zanele Muholi does not consider themself a photographer, but calls themself a “visual activist.” For Muholi, it has never been just about an interest in photography.
I live photography. It is my life and my truth. When did I decide to take action? Invisibility was what made me act.
The lack of images in the media that depicted Muholi's reality made Muholi want to shift perspectives with the help of photography.
What you see in the media is often about displacement and violence. I want to create material that speaks to our present, our future and our happiness. We have been through so much trauma, but we still believe in love.
There are still not enough images that depict the reality for black queer and transgender people in Africa and the rest of the world, says Muholi.
But we have always been here and we still are. We don't just exist when it's Pride. We want to be who we are every day of the year.
Universally
Photography is, according to Zanele Muholi, a universal language that anyone can read and understand.
If a person is presented to you through a photograph, you can see that the person exists. You can see that that person has their own language, lineage, identity and history.
Frida Kjellsson/TT
Facts: Zanele Muholi
TT
Name: Zanele Muholi.
Born: 1972 in Umlazi, Durban.
Occupation: Photographer and activist.
Background: Photographer and reporter at Behind the Mask, an African online magazine on LGBT issues. Co-founder of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, an organization for black lesbian women. Co-founder of Inkanyiso, which works with visual activism and supports the LGBT community in art and media. Co-director of the documentary film "Difficult love" (2010).
Has exhibited at Fotografiska in Stockholm and at Tate in London, among other places.
Current: Recipient of the Hasselblad Prize 2026. The prize money is two million kronor.
