‘‘We get caught up in other people’s worlds, and you never ask yourself how you became.’’
—Zanele Muholi
In their ongoing series Somnyama Ngonyama, translated from Zulu as ‘Hail, the Dark Lioness’, South African visual activist Zanele Muholi (b.1972) becomes their own subject by transforming into a variety of characters that reference the politics of identity and the compounded suppression experienced as a result of racism and homophobia. By exaggerating the darkness of their skin tone, Muholi presents an alternative visual history that celebrates the beauty of black skin within the lexicon of classical painting and fashion photography.
In Sindile II, the artist poses lying on the bed of room 206 in Berlin’s Fjord Hotel – Muholi looks up at the ceiling with their arm and leg crossed over their naked body and hair cascading down along the edge of the bed. Unlike other images from the series, wherein their pose, gaze and choice of prop explicitly denote strength and composure, this work suggests vulnerability and quiet introspection. Nevertheless, in confronting the politics of race, gender and sexuality within a domestic space by turning the camera on themselves, they retain their power and authority. Muholi is a 2016 recipient of a Chevalier from l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and an Infinity Award from ICP, and their work resides in prominent institutions such as New York’s Guggenheim Museum and MoMA, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and London’s Tate Modern, which held their first major UK survey in 2020-2021.