Lindokuhle Sobekwa wins 2025 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize
Lindokuhle Sobekwa honoured for powerful tribute to his late sister and a poignant reflection on South Africa’s social history.
Lindokuhle Sobekwa. The Photographers’ Gallery. Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025. Image credit Heather Shuker.
South African photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa has been awarded the 2025 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize for his personal photobook I carry Her photo with Me. The £30,000 prize, announced on 15 May at The Photographers’ Gallery in London by author and photographer Caleb Azumah Nelson, celebrates the most significant contribution to international contemporary photography over the past year. Sobekwa’s work stood out for its raw emotional depth and powerful narrative centred on memory, loss, and healing.
Born in 1995, Sobekwa began his project after discovering a damaged family photograph in his mother’s bible — the only remaining image of his sister, Ziyanda, whose face had been cut out. As a child, a tragic accident involving the siblings led to Ziyanda’s sudden disappearance. She returned a decade later, gravely ill, and passed away soon after. The photobook captures Sobekwa’s attempt to retrace her life and understand the silence that surrounded her absence. Through photography, handwritten reflections, and family snapshots, the book becomes a tribute not only to Ziyanda, but to a generation marked by unresolved trauma.
Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Makhulu in the field, 2018, 2018. © Lindokuhle Sobekwa.
The publication, released by MACK in 2024, takes the form of a scrapbook, blending documentary and personal archives to explore broader themes of disappearance, family fragmentation, and the lasting scars of Apartheid and colonialism. Sobekwa’s practice highlights how individual grief intersects with the socio-political landscape of South Africa, making the personal inherently political. His work prompts readers to consider the long-term effects of systemic inequality, especially within the context of post-Apartheid society.
Lindokuhle Sobekwa, My mother at work, 2018. © Lindokuhle Sobekwa.
Shoair Mavlian, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery and chair of the jury, praised Sobekwa’s ability to turn simple production into emotionally resonant storytelling. Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, described the book as a poetic and moving meditation on memory and identity. The other shortlisted artists — Cristina De Middel, Rahim Fortune, and Tarrah Krajnak — were each awarded £5,000, with all four finalists’ work on view at The Photographers’ Gallery until 15 June 2025.
