Zanele Muholi awarded the Hasselblad Award 2026 — Daily Maverick

In Gothenburg, Sweden, Zanele Muholi was officially presented with the Hasselblad Award 2026, one of the most significant international distinctions in photography. Muholi was named the 46th recipient of the award, Daily Maverick reports.

The ceremony took place on 9 October 2026. The distinction includes a gold medal, a Hasselblad camera and two million Swedish kronor. The award is also accompanied by the solo exhibition “Zanele Muholi: Hasselblad Award 2026,” which will run until 4 April next year.

Series about visibility

The exhibition brings together six series of Muholi’s works, including Only Half the Picture, Faces and Phases, and Somnyama Ngonyama. These works are devoted to the visibility, dignity and beauty of Black queer, lesbian and trans people.

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Muholi has described Faces and Phases as a project that goes beyond portrait photography and documents the resistance and existence of Black queer and trans people. Hasselblad called the series a landmark part of contemporary photographic art.

Documenting experience

The Only Half the Picture series was first presented in 2002. It is connected with visual activism, documenting violence and bearing witness to lived experience.

In Somnyama Ngonyama, also known as Hail the Dark Lioness, Muholi appears not only as a photographer but also as the subject of self-portraits. The series uses intensified skin tone and pronounced contrast, and also raises questions about the representation of Black people and control over it. Muholi noted that they view this distinction as recognition of the community and of the people who entrusted their stories.