WeeklySA_AdminLEGACY: Foundation launches national award to honour legendary photographer’s legacy while opening doors for emerging visual storytellers across the country…
By Jacob Mawela
A new national photography prize carrying a R100 000 cash award has been launched in honour of legendary South African photographer Santu Mofokeng, creating one of the country’s most significant opportunities for emerging visual artists.
The Santu Mofokeng Foundation Photography Prize was officially unveiled at the Latitudes Centre for the Arts in Johannesburg, where photographers, curators and arts leaders gathered to celebrate a new initiative aimed at nurturing the next generation of South African photographic talent.
The annual award, established by the Santu Mofokeng Foundation in partnership with Latitudes, seeks to identify emerging photographers whose work demonstrates the depth, sensitivity and critical engagement that defined Mofokeng’s internationally acclaimed career.
Beyond the R100 000 prize, the winner will receive editorial support, a professional artist profile and future exhibition opportunities through Latitudes’ programmes.
Applications opened on 15 July and are open to independent photographers living and working in South Africa whose submitted work has been produced within the past five years. Entries close on October 15, with the inaugural winner expected to be announced in early 2027.
Foundation director Lunetta Bartz said the launch of the prize forms part of the organisation’s ongoing efforts to preserve and expand Mofokeng’s remarkable legacy as one of South Africa’s most influential photographers.
The initiative follows a series of commemorative events marking the Foundation’s tenth anniversary, including exhibitions of Mofokeng’s celebrated Concert at Sewefontein photographs at the 2025 FNB Art Joburg Fair, the Rumours/2026 exhibition and a special film screening at the Standard Bank Art Lab in Sandton.
The launch drew a cross-section of South Africa’s photographic community, from aspiring young image-makers to renowned practitioners including Len Khumalo, Roger Ballen and Oupa Nkosi.Speaking at the event, Latitudes founder Lucy MacGarry said the prize was about far more than recognising technical excellence.
“Youth photographers often ask how they find their own voices,” she said, adding that the answer lies in studying those who came before them and understanding why photographers such as Mofokeng created the images they did.
Drawing on James Baldwin’s famous observation that “people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them,” MacGarry said Mofokeng’s photographs demonstrated curiosity, integrity and generosity while revealing realities that often lay beneath the visible surface.
She described his work as acts of “listening, patience and witness” that continue to influence artists and scholars across the world.
Widely regarded as one of South Africa’s greatest photographers, Mofokeng (1956-2020) transformed documentary photography over four decades through acclaimed bodies of work including Train Church, The Black Photo Album and Chasing Shadows.
His photographs explored memory, spirituality, migration, landscape and belonging while resisting simplistic interpretations of South African society. The Foundation said the new prize reflects its broader mission of preserving Mofokeng’s artistic legacy while investing in the future of contemporary photography.
The launch concluded with guests viewing a specially curated exhibition of Mofokeng’s photographs, celebrating the enduring influence of an artist whose work continues to shape the country’s visual and cultural memory.
