Image series 40 / 2022: Zanele Muholi
"Faces and Phases"
2 October 2022
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By: Bettina Pfleging
As an activist and photographer, Zanele Muholi has been documenting the lives of South Africa’s black LGBTQIA+ community in striking photographs since the early 2000s. In the series “Faces and Phases”, for example, Muholi has been focusing on lesbian, transgender and non-binary women with black and white portraits since 2006 until today. So far, the series consists of more than 250 pictures showing people of different ages. Although many of them have the traces of what they had to experience written all over their faces, they all appear strong and refuse to adopt any victim attitude.
Zanele Muholi’s self-portraits subtly play with gender-specific conventions and in the exhibition, alongside many other works of art from over 100 years, show the tension between self-perception and perception of others in the visual arts.
„Fremde sind wir uns selbst: Bildnisse von Paula Modersohn-Becker bis Zanele Muholi“
21st August 2022 until 29th Januar 2023, Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal
Zanele Muholi. Tumi Mkhuma, Yeoville, Johannesburg, Ausschnitt, 2007; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Sheila Plaatjie, Parktown, Johannesburg, Ausschnitt, 2008; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Puleng Mahlati, Embekweni, Paarl, Ausschnitt, 2009; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Lerato Marumolwa, Embekweni, Paarl, Ausschnitt, 2009; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Tumi Mkhuma, Katlehong, Johannesburg, Ausschnitt, 2010; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Thandi Mbatha, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Ausschnitt, 2010; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Dikeledi Sibanda, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Ausschnitt, 2010; Imago, Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte
Zanele Muholi. Ntozhake I. Parktown, Ausschnitt, 2016, Silbergelatine-Print, Wuppertal; Nutzerdatenbank, prometheus – Das verteilte digitale Bildarchiv für Forschung & Lehre
