Zanele Muholi

As an artist and activist, Zanele Muholi advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people (LGBTQIA+). Zanele Muholi use the plural (they) for themselves. Their photographs transcend conventional perceptions of the lesbian and transgender communities in South Africa. As members of these communities, who suffer constant physical and psychological assault and hate crimes, Muholi’s works show strong, positive, and self-confident people as demonstrative counterweights to heteronormative constraints. Her photographs honor members of an often hidden, voiceless, and marginalized community. The series Brave Beauties, Durban (2020) is thus a risky call for emancipation and recognition.