South African photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa has been awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025. The announcement was made at The Photographers’ Gallery in London on May 15th. The prize, which amounts to £30,000 ($39,890), is awarded to a living artist whose work has influenced international contemporary photography within the past year. Sobekwa was selected for his recent book, I carry Her photo with Me, which was published by London-based publishing house MACK in 2024.
Sobekwa started I carry Her photo with Me when he found a family portrait with his older sister’s face cut out. This photograph is the only photo Sobekwa has of his sister, who ran away from home after inadvertently causing Sobekwa to be hit by a car when he was seven years old. She returned a decade later, but refused to let Sobekwa take her photo. Shortly after, she passed away. I carry Her photo with Me is a scrapbook-like publication that comprises photographs, handwritten notes, and family snapshots that the artist assembled to document his sister’s life without her photo. The work also touches on the aftermath of Apartheid and colonialism in South Africa.
“Lindokuhle powerfully uses photography as a way for him and his family to speak about their past, loss, and memory, alongside the larger story and challenges of post-Apartheid South Africa,” said Shoair Mavlian, director of The Photographers’ Gallery.
Born in 1995, Sobekwa was first introduced to photography through the Of Soul and Joy Project at his high school in Thokoza, South Africa. There, he was mentored by artists such as Bieke Depoorter and Cyprien Clément-Delmas. Starting in 2013, Sobekwa began working as a part-time photographer for Live Magazine. His most recent solo exhibition and first solo in London, “Heart of the garden,” was presented in 2024 by Goodman Gallery, which represents the artist.
Sobekwa was selected from a shortlist of four artists. The other nominated artists are Spanish photographer Cristina De Middel, Austin- and New York–based Rahim Fortune, and Peruvian American artist Tarrah Krajnak, who all will receive £5,000 ($6,645). All four artists are currently the subject of an exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery, which is on view until June 15th.
The winner of the 2024 Deutsche Börse prize was South African photographer Lebohang Kganye. She was selected for her exhibition “Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home” at Foam in Amsterdam. Past winners include acclaimed artists such as Richard Mosse and Deana Lawson.
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