What does it mean to be a visual activist? This week, In The Studio meets pioneering non-binary South African photographer Zanele Muholi, who aims to give the marginalised a presence in the visual archive with their striking portraits of the black South African LGBTI community.

Ahead of Muholi’s first major UK retrospective at Tate Modern this Spring, reporter Mpho Lakaje follows Muholi, in Johannesburg and Durban as they work on their ongoing series “Faces and Phases”. This is an evolving photographic record and part of Muholi’s life’s work to map and preserve an often invisible community for posterity. It also serves to address the serious issue of hate crime in South Africa and its neighbouring countries, where the stigma of homosexuality can often lead to rape, violence, and murder.

We follow Muholi capturing images, interviewing participants and hearing their stories before creating their powerful images in black and white, highlighting and celebrating the beauty of black skin.

Zanele Muholi: photographer and visual activist 31:23 Share

In the Studio

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Zanele Muholi: photographer and visual activist