The Hasselblad Award, the world's largest prize in photography, has been awarded to South African visual activist Zanele Muholi – "one of the most influential contemporary photographers, with an impact that reaches far beyond the art world," the Foundation says. Presented annually by the Hasselblad Foundation since 1980, the prestigious award includes SEK 2,000,000 (approx. $217,000 / £162,087/ AU$308,048), a gold medal, and a Hasselblad camera (worth over US$7,000). The prize makes it the biggest available for a photo contest – eclipsing that available for the overall winner of the HIPA contest.Over a career spanning more than two decades, Muholi has created powerful portrait series that document and celebrate the lives of Black LGBTQIA+ communities. For this, Muholi worked with Canon cameras such as the EOS R5 or EOS 5D Mark IV, paired with classic portrait lenses including the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM and EF 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art, along with zooms like the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM.
The winning work
The Hasselblad Foundation citation states, "Born in 1972 during the apartheid regime, they are highly aware of the power of narration in the face of systematic violence. Muholi's photographs are formally compelling, employing composition, colour, greyscale, and lighting to create an adept visual language that holds both strength and vulnerability. "The portraits foreground individuals with a direct and dignified gaze, challenging prejudice and discrimination while creating alternative visual histories. Activism and community work is an integral part of their practice, which combines political urgency and formal mastery, making Muholi a central figure in global queer visual culture."
Photography as visual activism
Born in Umlazi, Durban, Muholi has pioneered the use of photography as a form of visual activism, addressing race, identity, and representation. Their long-running portrait project Faces and Phases (2006 -) documents Black lesbian, transgender, and gender-nonconforming individuals and is widely regarded as a landmark series in contemporary photography. Other projects include Only Half of the Picture (2003-2004), which documented lesbian lives and survivors of hate crimes, and Brave Beauties (2014-), celebrating trans women.
In the ongoing self-portrait series Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), Muholi draws on visual references from fashion, domestic labour, and ethnographic imagery to challenge historical depictions of Black bodies. Alongside their artistic work, Muholi founded Inkanyiso in 2009, a platform dedicated to queer and visual activist media, and established the Muholi Art Institute in 2022 to support emerging artists.
Muholi explains
"This prize is not mine alone. I carry it with the many faces, names, and histories that have trusted me with their stories. From Umlazi to every space where Black LGBTQIA+ people continue to fight to exist freely, this recognition affirms that our lives are worthy of being seen – not as statistics, not as shadows, but as full human beings."For years, my work has been about visibility and resistance. It has been about creating an archive so that no one can say, 'We did not know.' When this honour comes, I receive it on behalf of my community; those who have been erased, those who are still here, and those who are yet to see themselves reflected with dignity," Muholi says.For more information and to see the entire selection of winning photographs, visit the Hasselblad Foundation website.
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