Approaching photography from a place of visual activism, Johannesburg-based artist Zanele Muholi (b. 1972) — whose preferred pronoun is they — gives visibility to people who often appear in mass media solely through the lens of tragedy. The activist’s striking black-and-white images of Black LGBTQI+ individuals in South Africa help provide an overlooked and stigmatized community a space to freely assert identity and beauty.
Born in Umlazi, South Africa, Muholi studied at the Market Photo Workshop in Newtown, South Africa, and earned an MFA in documentary media at Ryerson University in Toronto. An early series, Only Half the Picture (2003–6), engages with the violent hate crimes against Black LGBTQI+ people in South Africa, portraying the survivors not through their status as victims but by celebrating their dignity and courage. This effort to challenge stereotypes and utilize photography as a platform for self-representation has defined Muholi’s practice. In the ongoing Being series, began in 2007, Muholi illuminates the intimate lives of Black queer couples, while Faces and Phases, started a year earlier, now has hundreds of portraits of Black lesbian and transgender individuals as a living archive.
Other works have concentrated on public spaces that are important sites of South African history, elevating queer bodies as part of this heritage. In a 2012–18 series Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness, Muholi shifted to self-portraiture, adorning themself with various found objects, from cowrie shells to cable ties, to confront both the exoticization of African people and a legacy of brutal subjugation. A major survey show that opened at the Tate Modern in 2020 recognized Muholi’s impact as an activist and an artist.
Alongside these works raising awareness for LGBTQI+ stories, Muholi has strived toward community advocacy through initiatives such as the cofounding of the Forum for Empowerment of Women (FEW) in 2002 to support Black lesbians in South Africa and Inkanyiso to promote queer activist media, established by Muholi in 2009.
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Mhlazana, ISGM, Boston
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Muholi is a South African visual activist and photographer. Muholi’s self-proclaimed mission is "to re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to k...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Zibandlela VI, III, and II, The Sails, Durban
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Muholi is a South African visual activist and photographer. Muholi’s self-proclaimed mission is "to re-write a black queer and trans visual history of South Africa for the world to k...
Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 20 in W 16 in
Jean-Michel Basquiat VI: A Portrait, 1984, gelatin slver print, Signed/N 4/30
By Richard Corman
Located in New York, NY
Richard Corman Jean-Michel Basquiat VI: A Portrait, 1984, 2018 Gelatin silver print Signed, titled, dated and numbered 4/30 by Richard Corman in marker on the reverse 20 × 16 inches...
Silver Gelatin
Harlem (Three Cowboys)
By John Albok
Located in Denton, TX
John Albok Harlem (Three Cowboys), 1938 Vintage gelatin silver print, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. Titled in pencil on mount margin. Signed and dated by John Albok in pencil, artist stamp in bl...
Silver Gelatin
$35,000
H 19 in W 16.75 in D 1.75 in
Portrait of Andy Warhol, hand signed by BOTH Andy Warhol and Christopher Makos
Located in New York, NY
Christopher Makos, Andy Warhol Portrait of Andy Warhol taken by photographer Christopher Makos (Hand signed by BOTH Andy Warhol and Christopher Makos...
Silver Gelatin
Brigitte Bardot, Les Petroleuses, 1971
By Terry O'Neill
Located in New York, NY
Brigitte Bardot, Les Petroleuses 1971 Silver gelatin print edition of 50 72 x 48 inches Estate signature stamped and numbered edition of 50 Brigitte Bardot on the set of the film ‘...
Silver Gelatin
'Hungry Elephant' Archival Photograph by Getty, 16x20
Located in San Rafael, CA
An elephant named Mae West accepts an apple from a passing tram driver while taking her morning exercise along Gray's Inn Road, London, 16th December 1936. Mae is helping to publicis...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$8,500
H 6.25 in W 9.25 in
Eric Kroll - Madonna at Danceteria NYC 1983 Memorial for Michael Stewart, Signed
By Eric Kroll
Located in New York, NY
Silver gelatin print The present work is hand signed with the artist's copyright, dated 1983, and titled on the back. It is numbered 3 of an edition of only 10. On October 3, 1983, Madonna headlined a memorial concert in honor of Michael Stewart, a graffiti artist in the midst of the AIDS crisis who became a victim of police brutality. Madonna was only 24 years old in 1983, but had already signed her first record deal and was on the cusp of superstardom. In 1984, the year after Madonna appeared in Kroll's shoot, she would release chart hits Like A Virgin, Material Girl and Crazy For You, cementing her place as an international star. This photograph was taken by renowned photographer and editor Eric Kroll backstage at Danceteria - a gritty and popular after hours club and concert venue on West 21st Street in Manhattan, operating out of the first three floors in an old industrial 12-story building. The visible text "ACCUTUNKTIONA TO THE POINT!" and "UNK" are actual, gritty wall graffiti from the venue, adding to the candid nature of the shot. Eric Kroll is a notable photographer, best known for his many fetish subjects, and for documenting America’s seediest spots and denizens, sharing a certain aesthetic with fellow photographers Larry Clark and Richard Kern...
Silver Gelatin
Brigitte Bardot Hands On Hips
By Terry O'Neill
Located in New York, NY
Brigitte Bardot, Hands on Hips, 1971 Silver gelatin print 72 x 48 inches Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 50 with certificate of authenticity. Brigitte Bardot ...
Silver Gelatin
Untitled (Woman Vacuuming), from Suburbia
By Bill Owens
Located in Denton, TX
Edition of 15 Signed, dated and numbered. Series: Suburbia Bill Owens was born and raised in California. After volunteering in the Peace Corps he picked up photography and began his...
Silver Gelatin
Terry O'Neill 'Raquel Welch and Ringo Starr'
By Terry O'Neill
Located in New York, NY
Raquel Welch and Ringo Starr, 1969 silver gelatin print 72 x 48 inches edition of 50 Estate signature stamped edition of 50 with certificate of authenticity American actress Raquel...
Silver Gelatin
$1,870Sale Price|44% Off
H 20 in W 16 in
16 x 20" Tony and Academy Award Winner Cicely Tyson, signed by Jack Mitchell
By Jack Mitchell
Located in Senoia, GA
16 x 20" vintage silver gelatin photograph of Tony and Academy Award Winner Cicely Tyson, 1995. It is signed by Jack Mitchell on the recto and in pencil o...
Silver Gelatin
Raquel Welch in ‘Myra Breckinridge
By Terry O'Neill
Located in New York, NY
Audrey Hepburn Relaxing, 1970 C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 50 American actress Raquel Welch wearing a stars and stripes suit in ‘Myra Breckinridge’, a 1970 America...
Silver Gelatin
$1,750
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.1 in
Marion Anderson and Leonard Bernstein, Lewisohn Stadium, NYC by Ruth Orkin
By Ruth Orkin
Located in Denton, TX
Marion Anderson and Leonard Bernstein, Lewisohn Stadium, NYC by Ruth Orkin depicts a man and a woman performing onstage. Marion Anderson stand with her arms behind her back, her face...
Silver Gelatin
Lerato Dumse, Syracuse, New York
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Signed and numbered in pencil, verso Archival pigment print (Edition of 50) 15 x 11 inches (38.1 x 27.9 cm), sheet 14 x 9.5 inches (35.6 x 24.1 cm), image This artwork is offered ...
Archival Pigment
Ntozakhe II, (Parktown)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Somnyama Ngonyama (MaID)
Silver Gelatin
Zibuyile I (Syracuse)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8
Silver Gelatin
Vukani I (Paris)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8
Silver Gelatin
Thulani II (Parktown)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8.
Silver Gelatin