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Zanele Muholi — Bambatha I, Oceanview Strandloper, Paternoster
Zanele Muholi

Bambatha I, Oceanview Strandloper, Paternoster

2023

Bambatha I, Oceanview Strandloper, Paternoster presents Zanele Muholi in full self-possession against the stark, elemental landscape of South Africa's West Coast. The monumental figure fills the frame with quiet authority, skin rendered in Muholi's characteristic high-contrast black and white tones that transform the photographic surface into something closer to sculpture than document. Sand, wind, and shoreline become more than setting here; they situate the body within a specific geography of belonging and resistance, invoking the Strandloper peoples who inhabited these coastal margins long before colonial cartography redrew the land. This work forms part of Muholi's ongoing series of self-portraits collectively titled Somnyama Ngonyama, meaning "Hail, the Dark Lioness" in isiZulu, a body of work that has become one of the most significant contributions to contemporary photography in the past decade. Each image is a deliberate act of self-definition, pushing back against the erasure of Black queer bodies from both mainstream representation and the historical record. The Paternoster setting adds layered meaning, invoking a community whose identity has long been shaped by displacement, resilience, and an intimate relationship with a contested coastline. Executed as a Baryta print mounted on Dibond and presented framed, this 105 × 70 cm work carries the luminous tonal depth and archival quality that serious collectors have come to associate with Muholi's practice. Signed and offered through Southern Guild, it represents a rare opportunity to acquire a recent, large-format work from an artist whose practice is held in major museum collections worldwide and whose critical standing continues to grow with each successive body of work.

Medium
Baryta print mounted on Dibond
Overall
Framed
Signed
Yes
Location
Southern Guild, Cape Town, Western Cape

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About this work

Zanele Muholi, Bambatha I, Oceanview Strandloper, Paternoster, 2023

Bambatha I, Oceanview Strandloper, Paternoster presents Zanele Muholi in full self-possession against the stark, elemental landscape of South Africa's West Coast. The monumental figure fills the frame with quiet authority, skin rendered in Muholi's characteristic high-contrast black and white tones that transform the photographic surface into something closer to sculpture than document. Sand, wind, and shoreline become more than setting here; they situate the body within a specific geography of belonging and resistance, invoking the Strandloper peoples who inhabited these coastal margins long before colonial cartography redrew the land. This work forms part of Muholi's ongoing series of self-portraits collectively titled Somnyama Ngonyama, meaning "Hail, the Dark Lioness" in isiZulu, a body of work that has become one of the most significant contributions to contemporary photography in the past decade. Each image is a deliberate act of self-definition, pushing back against the erasure of Black queer bodies from both mainstream representation and the historical record. The Paternoster setting adds layered meaning, invoking a community whose identity has long been shaped by displacement, resilience, and an intimate relationship with a contested coastline. Executed as a Baryta print mounted on Dibond and presented framed, this 105 × 70 cm work carries the luminous tonal depth and archival quality that serious collectors have come to associate with Muholi's practice. Signed and offered through Southern Guild, it represents a rare opportunity to acquire a recent, large-format work from an artist whose practice is held in major museum collections worldwide and whose critical standing continues to grow with each successive body of work.

Medium
Baryta print mounted on Dibond
Dimensions
overall: 105 x 70 cm • framed: 107 x 72 x 5.5 cm
Year
2023
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Southern Guild, Cape Town, Western Cape

Related themes

Fine Art Print, Baryta Print, LGBTQ+ Artist, Black And White, Identity Politics, Portrait Photography, South African, Human Figure, Contemporary

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