Sabelo Mlangeni’s Intimate Vision Wins Africa’s Prestigious Photography Prize

South African visual artist Sabelo Mlangeni has been awarded the James Barnor prize, one of Africa’s leading photography honours, celebrating his deeply personal and unsparing documentation of community life across southern Africa. The award, presented annually to artists from different regions of the continent, celebrates Mlangeni’s three-decade body of work, which explores relationships, identity and the human spirit through intimate portrait photography. His series, including the acclaimed Isivumelwano—a Nguni word translating to contract or alliance—documents weddings, family occasions and daily life within LGBTQ+ and rural communities, disrupting traditional narratives whilst highlighting what he describes as “the systems we exist in (and against)”.

From Wedding Reconstruction to Continental Acknowledgement

Mlangeni’s foray into photography began in 1997 with an unforeseen assignment: restoring a wedding photograph. This first image established the trajectory for a career shaped by his deep engagement with community rituals and close interpersonal moments. In South Africa, he explains, a cameraman transcends the role of simple bystander, instead engaging deeply with capturing the soul of the community itself. This philosophy of embeddedness—participating in every important occasion, woven throughout local life—has become the cornerstone of his artistic practice and distinguishes his work from increasingly distant documentary approaches.

Over close to three decades, Mlangeni has developed his craft through ongoing involvement with communities across southern Africa and beyond. His commitment extends to marginalised populations, especially queer and rural communities whose stories continue to be underrepresented in conventional photographic discourse. When he travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he sought to capture umoya—the isiZulu and Bantu concept of a person’s essence and authentic self. This deeper conceptual foundation elevates his work past simple record-keeping, converting it into a deep reflection on identity, connection and the unseen populations whose lives deserve witnessing and celebration.

• Commenced photographic practice in 1997 with wedding image reconstruction
• Embedded approach to documentation within South African communities
• Concentrates on rural and queer communities throughout southern Africa
• Seeks to capture umoya, the spirit and essence of individuals

Capturing the Spirit of Selected Groups

The Isivumelwano Series: Reimagining Love and Union

Mlangeni’s distinguished Isivumelwano series represents a searching exploration of love, commitment and union within varied South African communities. Covering almost thirty years, these photographs capture ceremonies and private occasions held in sacred buildings, public spaces, natural environments and obscured settings—each image a reflection of the diversity of human connection. By capturing ceremonies often invisible to mainstream narratives, Mlangeni upends traditional concepts of the conventional Western ceremony, instead presenting a multifaceted perspective of how communities mark connections and establish partnerships. His perspective reveals the subversive orientations and fluid gender expressions that characterise real human relationships, grounding these celebrations in the physical objects and practices that surrounds them.

The significance of material detail permeates Mlangeni’s vision: wedding cakes, carefully chosen garments, the tactile fabric of Black folk adorned in western wear. These elements are not simply decorative but rather profound statements about identity, aspiration and cultural exchange. Writer Emmanuel Balogun notes that Mlangeni’s work functions as both celebration and critique, encouraging viewers to witness his nuanced understanding of love whilst recognising the precariousness of gender roles and the strength needed to honour chosen families. Through this series, Mlangeni magnifies the systems communities exist within and against, converting individual moments into collective testimony.

Queer and Remote Life in the DRC

In his recent work, Mlangeni journeyed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a singular spiritual mission: to capture umoya, the isiZulu and Bantu word for a person’s authentic inner self and essence. This journey represented an broadening of his practice beyond South African borders, furthering his commitment to recording underrepresented communities whose stories are systematically erased. By focusing on queer and rural populations in Kigoma and Lubumbashi, Mlangeni engaged in prolonged intimate dialogue with individuals whose ordinary lives are made invisible by dominant structures. His presence was not transient but anchored in genuine engagement, devoting time listening, observing and bearing witness.

Curator Francesca de’ Medici stresses that Mlangeni’s engagement with these communities runs extraordinarily profound, motivated by earnest exploration into the roots and significance of chosen family and everyday existence. The photographs from this series—intimate portraits of individuals within their homes and everyday spaces—testify to the simple dignity and worth of existence often disregarded. By placing the unseen at the centre of his artistic vision, Mlangeni performs an gesture of profound witnessing, reshaping photography as a vehicle for validation and honour. His work asserts that shared humanity, communal bonds move beyond territorial limits, uniting South African townships with Congolese villages through collective lived reality.

Profound Dedication By Way Of Contemplative Photography

Sabelo Mlangeni’s engagement with photography surpasses conventional documentation, functioning rather as an act of spiritual communion. His practice remains fundamentally grounded in the understanding that a photographer’s role reaches far beyond mere observation—they integrate into communities, witness to crucial moments that establish communal identity. This philosophy, shaped by his introduction to photography in 1997 by way of a wedding reenactment, positions Mlangeni as a observer of the hallowed aspects of ordinary life. His engagement demonstrates a uniquely South African interpretation of the medium, where the photographer serves as keeper of collective memory and spirit.

The spiritual dimension of Mlangeni’s work becomes particularly evident in his conscious decision to capture umoya—the Bantu concept of inner essence and spirit. Rather than regarding his subjects as simple visual objects, Mlangeni develops prolonged, respectful relationships that allow genuine understanding of people’s deepest inner worlds. This requires patience, openness and a openness to transformation by encounter. His photographs therefore serve as visual prayers, celebrating the worth and nuance of those whom society marginalises. The James Barnor award acknowledgement acknowledges this deep spiritual work, affirming photography as a practice of love, recognition and radical witness.

• Photographer embedded within local groups, witnessing defining collective moments and events
• Captures umoya, the spiritual essence and authentic self of excluded people
• Transforms photography into practice of validation, endorsement and transformative archiving

A Visual Artist Integrated into Community Activities

Sabelo Mlangeni’s visual work is fundamentally shaped by his deep immersion within the communities he documents. Rather than maintaining the detached stance of a traditional photojournalist, Mlangeni establishes himself as an integral participant in the lives of his subjects, attending community gatherings, celebrations and intimate moments that shape shared identity. This immersive method—rooted in South African photographic tradition—transforms the camera into an tool of documentation and solidarity. His presence at weddings, family gatherings and everyday occasions permits direct access to lived experience that surface-level observation cannot achieve. This commitment demands sustained engagement, building trust across months and years of continuous engagement.

The results of this patient immersion are evident across Mlangeni’s substantial collection of work, which spans nearly three decades of visual documentation. His photographs expose the layered complexity of relationships, customs and shared bonds that define human existence. Whether capturing unions held in churches, community halls or wild grasslands, Mlangeni’s lens uncovers the striking beauty and fragility of connection. His work goes beyond South African townships to include queer and rural communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, demonstrating how his commitment to immersive photography surpasses geographical boundaries. Through prolonged engagement and genuine relationship-building, Mlangeni generates visual records that respect the worth and multifaceted nature of overlooked communities.

The Perspective Behind the Lens

Sabelo Mlangeni’s approach to photography is essentially based on presence and participation rather than standing apart. In South Africa, he explains, a cameraman transcends the role of passive bystander—they are absorbed into the community’s soul, woven into local life and attending every key event. This philosophy developed during his practice, beginning in 1997 when he initially discovered the medium through capturing a wedding image. That formative experience established a trajectory of intimate engagement that has characterised his three-decade career, treating the camera as a tool for meaningful engagement rather than cursory documentation.

Central to Mlangeni’s vision is the notion of umoya, the isiZulu and Bantu word for inner life and inner essence. His work aims to record not merely what people appear to be, but who they truly are beneath superficial exteriors. This transcendent quality propels his sustained engagement with marginalised communities—whether documenting unions across South African townships or going to rural and queer communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By investing considerable time establishing rapport and genuine relationships, Mlangeni converts photography into an act of witness and witness, honouring the complexity and dignity of those whose stories might otherwise go untold.