I recently went to the Tate Modern to see South African Photographer Zanholi Muholi. Muholi takes beautiful black and white photos of fellow LGBTQ+ people in her home country of South Africa. People in South Africa have a long history of being discriminated against due to their sexuality. In her project Faces and Phases, there are over 500 portraits of LGTBQ+ people. She wanted to have a living document of these under-represented and often oppressed group.

Muholi describes themself as a visual activist. From the early 2000s, they have documented and celebrated the lives of South Africa’s Black lesbian, gay, trans, queer and intersex communities.

In the exhibition, I was blown away by her work and even cried. In the first exhibition room you are confronted with 2 vast walls of portraits of people looking directly at the camera. Her portraits are not only beautiful in their imagery but so powerful with the models looking directly at the camera. This made me think about what happens when someone looks directly at the camera or away into the distance when being photographed. On this wall I am hit by over 100 images of people looking strong and comfortable in themselves. This is even more impactful when knowing about the background of people being discriminated against.

I also loved Muholi’s exploration of her own identity in a room of self portraits. In these images she paints her skin black and adds accessories into the images to highlight different aspects of herself and her heritage. Some of these images are characters she creates. In one of these images she talks about it representing her mother who was a domestic worker for 42 years. She dedicates it to all domestic workers who work hard, long hours on low pay.

All in all I walked away having so many thoughts, not only about the lives of others in different parts of the world, but also the impact of photography and what an image can do to change history and make an impact. Maholi took lots of risks to take these photos and exhibit them. She has even had exhibitions banned before. I am inspired and am reminded why I love visiting exhibitions.