Currently on view at Southern Guild Los Angeles until 6 September 2025, the now-historic collection of work is a must-see
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGES COURTESY ZANELE MUHOLI; SOUTHERN GUILD, CAPE TOWN/LOS ANGELES; AND YANCEY RICHARDSON, NEW YORK. © ZANELE MUHOLI
For 19 years, Zanele Muholi has used photography to document the lives of Black lesbian, bisexual and queer women, transgender and gender non-conforming people. And now, Zanele’s esssential collection of work will be shown at Zanele’s Faces and Phases 19 exhibition at Southern Guild Los Angeles until 6 September.
Zanele began the work of Faces and Phases in 2006. The year marked the 10th anniversary of the passing of South Africa’s 1996 Civil Union Bill. The bill legalised same-sex marriage and civil partnership, and this inclusive move was considered to be “ahead of its time”. However, Zanele knew all too well that the country’s “progressive branding” didn’t mirror the reality of life for its LGBTQIA citizens who experienced homophobic, transphobic and patriarchal violence, with Black queer folks being particularly high risk for horrific violence and often fatal hate crimes.
Zanele’s portraits originally focused on South Africa, however, this new series has been expanded to include faces from the US, UK, Brazil and Portugal.
This collection is a vital archival piece of Black queer history. Each portrait is striking and meets the viewer’s eye in a confronting way. Zanele also conducted extensive interviews with the project’s participants to gather their testimonials. All of this impacts the way the photographer captured them. Zanele’s interest in their lives and stories is clear to see with the way in which each has been uniquely captured.
A group exhibition – also featuring Zanele Muholi as a participating artist – titled In Us is Heaven will be running simultaneously at Southern Guild. Artists include Queezy Babaz, Jody Brand, Chloe Chiasson, Lea Colombo, Simon Haas, Alex Hedison, Rich Mnisi, Ambrose Rhapsody Murray, Oluseye, Catherine Opie, Araba Opoku, Jody Paulsen, Athi-Patra Ruga, Brett Charles Seiler, Chiffon Thomas and Qualeasha Wood. For the exhibition, the gallery will be activated as a safe, welcoming space for the LGBTQIA community with a focus on exchanging joy and discussion.
2009. Courtesy Zanele Muholi; Southern Guild, Cape Town/Los Angeles; and Yancey Richardson, New York. © Zanele Muholi.
The solo exhibition Zanele Muholi: Faces and Phases 19 celebrates 19 years of Zanele’s seminal photographic project documenting the lives of Black lesbian, bisexual and queer women, trans, and gender non-conforming people. The exhibition presents over 100 new portraits taken in Los Angeles, Salvador, São Paolo, Porto and London, expanding the series to include international participants in the previously South African-focused body of work.
The group exhibition In Us Is Heaven features 17 contemporary artists from Africa and the United States whose practices question systems of regulation that enforce difference, shame and social failure, advocating for healing through the infinite resource of boundless love.
Both exhibitions are currently on view at Southern Guild Los Angeles through September, 6, 2025.
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