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
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
H 11 in W 14 in
Fashion Show, African American, Gelatin Silver Print, Harlem 1963, Signed, 11x14
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Fashion Show, 1963, Harlem, USA by Leonard Freed, is an 11” x 14” gelatin silver print, which appears in the photographer's seminal Black in White America book. The photograph is sta...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 24 in W 20 in
Wall Street, New York, 1950s, Gelatin Silver Print, Signed, 24x20 Photograph
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
American photographer Leonard Freed's photographic career was punctuated by epic documentary photo essays with many works shot in New York City, Wall Street, is one of the photograph...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 24 in W 20 in
Fire Hydrant, Harlem, New York 1960s, Gelatin Silver Photograph, Signed, 24x20
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Punctuated by documentary photo essays such as Black in White America, Fire Hydrant is one of Leonard Freed's most iconic in the Harlem, New York series. Two children enjoy a blissf...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 8 in W 10 in
Kate #10, Yoga, Black and White Photograph, Signed Vintage, 8x10 Inches
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #10, 2002 by Leonard Freed is an 8" x 10" hand printed black and white photograph from his nude series. Signed by the photographer the gelatin silver print is stamped "vintage" ...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 11 in W 14 in
Kate, New York, Signed Gelatin Silver Photograph, Contemporary Nude, 11x14
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate, from the Kate series, Garrison, New York, 2002 by American photographer Leonard Freed is an 11” x 14” gelatin silver photograph signed verso (on back of photo) by the estate. T...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 11.5 in W 9.5 in
Fire Hydrant, Harlem, African Americans 1960s, Gelatin Silver Photo, Signed
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Fire Hydrant, Harlem, 1963 by Leonard Freed is a 11.5" x 9.5" gelatin silver signed by the photographer Leonard Freed (on verso). Provenance: Freed Estate LITERATURE: W. A. Ewing, N....
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 8 in W 10 in
Kate #11, Female Nude, Black and White Photograph, Signed Vintage, 8x10, 2002
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #11, 2002 by Leonard Freed is a signed verso (back of photo) 8" x 10" black and white photograph, hand printed, signed by the photographer and stamped "vintage" by the Freed es...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 8 in W 10 in
Kate #13. Female Nude, Black and White Photograph, Signed, 8x10, Vintage 2002
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #13, is from the Kate series, 2002 by American photographer Leonard Freed is a signed, 8" x 10" black and white photograph (gelatin silver), stamped "vintage" on verso (back of ...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 10 in W 8 in
Marilyn Monroe, Black and White Gelatin Silver RC Print, 1955, Signed, 10x8
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
American photographer Burt Glinn photographed the Hollywood star in conversation with Mike Todd and film director John Huston for a “Stop Arthritis” event which took place in New Yor...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 24 in W 20 in
Bride, Italy, Black and White Photograph, Gelatin Silver, Signed, 24x20, 1958
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Bride, Naples, Italy, 1958 by Leonard Freed is a black and white contemporary photograph, cinematic in nature. A gelatin silver photograph, signed by the photographer, 24" x 20" from the Freed archive. LITERATURE: W. A. Ewing, N. Herschdorfer, and W. van Sinderen, Worldview, Leonard Freed, Steidl, 2007, p. 73 and back cover. Leonard Freed discovered Little Italy in New York...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
H 16 in W 20 in
Harlem New York Beauty Contest Photo, Gelatin Silver Print, Signed, 16x20 Inches
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Beauty Contest, Harlem, 1963 by Leonard Freed is a 16" x 20" gelatin silver print, signed verso (on back) by the Freed estate. The image appears in Amer...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 10 in W 8 in
Nikita Khrushchev Portrait Photograph, Gelatin Silver Print, 10x8, Signed, 1959
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
Nikita Khrushchev in front of Lincoln Memorial, 1959, Washington DC by Burt Glinn is one of the photographer's iconic historical photographs. The p...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
H 15 in W 11 in
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
H 43.5 in W 32.25 in
Ntozakhe II, (Parktown)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Somnyama Ngonyama (MaID)
Silver Gelatin
H 23.5 in W 17 in
Zibuyile I (Syracuse)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8
Silver Gelatin
H 31.5 in W 20 in
Vukani I (Paris)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8
Silver Gelatin
H 19.5 in W 14.5 in
Thulani II (Parktown)
By Zanele Muholi
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 8.
Silver Gelatin