JULY 11 at the Latitudes Centre for the Arts at Shepstone Gardens, mountain View marked the launch of the national Santu Mofokeng Foundation Photography Prize to support South Africa’s emerging photographers.
Established in honour of the late photographer the award is named after – the inaugural award will include a R100 000 cash prize, editorial support, an artist profile and opportunities for future exhibition presentation through Latitudes programmes for the winner.
According to a media release issued ahead of the launch, through a national open call, the initiative seeks to identify artists whose work demonstrates a thoughtful and compelling engagement with the photographic medium, reflecting the depth, sensitivity and critical awareness that characterised Mofokeng’s practice.
Applications opened on July 15, 2026 and are accessible to emerging photographers living and working in South Africa.
Eligible applicants should be independent practitioners submitting work produced within the past five years. Applications close on October 15, and the inaugural winner, according to the Santu Mofokeng Foundation’s director Lunetta Bartz, will be announced in early 2027.
Aspiring applicants are encouraged to visit the Latitudes Online website, social media platforms as well as the Santu Mofokeng Foundation’s official channels for information about the prize and application details.
The launch was attended by younger photographers whom the award is targeted at, as well as seasoned lensmen such as Len Khumalo, Roger Ballen and Oupa Nkosi.
According to Bartz, the launch of the prize follows on a protracted string of events showcasing Mofokeng’s oeuvre to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the foundation’s establishment.
Those included the displaying of seventeen of Mofokeng’s Concert at Sewefontein photographs at the 2025 FNB Art Joburg fair, Rumours/2026 photo exhibition and Special Film Screening at the Standard Bank Art Lab on Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.
Addressing attendees during the launch, the Latitudes Centre for the Arts’s founder Lucy MacGarry said it was a privilege for her entity to partner with the Santu Mofokeng Foundation in carrying forward Mofokeng’s legacy.
Expounding on the initiation of the prize, MacGarry said: “Young photographers often asked how they found their own voices?”
The answer, she stated, was through looking further back, by studying those who came before us and by asking why artists such as Mofokeng made photographs.
Quoting a line from American novelist James Baldwin’s essay “Stranger in the Village”, MacGarry opined that Mofokeng understood that “people are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.” Continuing, she said the new prize exists to discover outstanding emerging photographers from across South Africa who bring the same curiosity, integrity and generosity to their own practice – as Mofokeng applied to his.
She pointed out that Mofokeng’s photographs were acts of listening, patience and witness which revealed not only what was visible, but what lay beneath the surface.
Through this new initiative – stated the media release – the Foundation extends its commitment to preserving, researching and sharing Santu Mofokeng’s legacy while fostering the future of contemporary photography in South Africa.
The occasion was marked and celebrated with a huge cake which Bartz encouraged every guest to have a slice of.
Attendees washed it down with hot coffees and flutes of bubbly while they viewed a curated exhibition of selected imagery by Mofokeng installed to celebrate his enduring contribution to photography, inside the venue.
About Santu Mofokeng
Santu Mofokeng is widely regarded as one of South Africa’s most important photographers.
Over four decades, his work expanded the possibilities of documentary photography, moving between observation and poetic reflection to explore memory, spirituality, landscape, migration, community and belonging.
His photographs reveal the layered social and emotional realities of South Africa while resisting simplistic narratives and fixed interpretations.
Through landmark bodies of work such as Train Church, The Black Photo Album and Chasing Shadows, Mofokeng developed a photographic language that continues to influence artists, curators and scholars internationally.
About the Santu Mofokeng Foundation
The Santu Mofokeng Foundation was established to preserve, research and share the work and legacy of Santu Mofokeng (1956–2020), one of South Africa’s most celebrated photographers.
Through exhibitions, publications, educational initiatives and public programmes, the Foundation advances understanding of Mofokeng’s work while supporting contemporary photographic practice.
About Latitudes
Latitudes is a leading online art marketplace and fair platform dedicated to showcasing and supporting contemporary art from Africa. Through its curated digital platform and flagship event, RMB Latitudes Art Fair, it connects collectors, galleries and artists across the continent and beyond.
Latitudes is reshaping the African art ecosystem with a bold, accessible and future-forward approach to discovery and engagement.
Top Image Jacob MAWELA (Santu Mofokeng limned next to his enlarger in his darkroom at his house in Bezuidenhout Valley.)
