Visual activist and artist Zanele Muholi has been named as the recipient of the annual Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography for 2026, the world’s most prestigious photography award. As this year’s laureate, Muholi will be honoured with a solo exhibition at the Hasselblad Center (10 October 2026 – 4 April 2027), along with a series of events during Hasselblad Award Week in Gothenburg. This will include a seminar in collaboration with the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland, a concert with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, an exhibition opening, book launch, formal award ceremony and an artist talk at Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
“It is with great pleasure that we award Zanele Muholi the 46th Hasselblad Award,” says Kalle Sanner, CEO of the Hasselblad Foundation. “In their artistic practice, Muholi combines photography with activism, creating powerful and significant works in which human rights are central. We look forward to presenting an extensive selection of their work this autumn at the Hasselblad Center.”
Zanele Muholi stands as one of the most influential contemporary photographers, with an impact that reaches far beyond the art world. They use portraiture to articulate and celebrate the presence, depth, and dignity of the Black LGBTQIA+ community in South Africa and the rest of the world. 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 are an integral part of their practice, which combines political urgency and formal mastery, making Muholi a central figure in global Queer visual culture.
On receiving the award, Muholi says: ”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.”
Previous winners include Carrie Mae Weems, Wolfgang Tillmans, Ingrid Pollard, Oscar Muñoz, Sophie Calle, Graciela Iturbide, Nan Goldin, David Goldblatt and others.