Zanele Muholi
Born in 1972 · South Africa
Building an archive of presences.
The story
Zanele Muholi develops a practice of visual activism connected with Black LGBTQIA+ communities in South Africa. Faces and Phases forms an archive of people and histories that refuse invisibility. The self-portraits of Somnyama Ngonyama explore representation, memory and power relations. Photography, community participation and the circulation of images are connected with an assertion of dignity and existence in public space, beyond the artistic gesture alone.
Understanding the work
Spend time with people’s gazes and names. In the self-portraits, props and contrasts turn ordinary objects into instruments for a critical reading of history and dominant representations.
Key works and series
Faces and Phases; Somnyama Ngonyama; Only Half the Picture.
Sources & further exploration
Works in collections.
6 recordsPhotographs to explore on museum and library websites, with titles, dates and processes. Each link opens the collection record and its image where one is available.
