Lindokuhle Sobekwa wins the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025

The artist was announced as the 2025 winner of the prestigious £30,000 prize at a special ceremony at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, on Thursday 15 May 2025.

The influential prize, presented by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation in partnership with The Photographers’ Gallery, rewards artists and their projects recognised as having made the most significant contribution to international contemporary photography over the past 12 months.

Lindokuhle Sobekwa (b. 1995, South Africa) was awarded the Prize for the book “I carry Her photo with Me”, published by MACK in 2024.

The deeply personal project began when Sobekwa found a family portrait with his older sister Ziyanda’s face cut out. He found the photograph in his mother’s bible and it remains the only photograph he has of his sister. One day when the siblings were seven and thirteen, she chased him, and he was hit by a car and badly injured. Traumatised by the accident, Ziyanda disappeared hours later. She only returned a decade later, by which time she was very ill. In the intervening years, Sobekwa had become a photographer. When she came back, Sobekwa tried to take Ziyanda’s portrait, but stopped when she reacted angrily. Ziyanda died soon after.

“I carry Her photo with Me” documents Sobekwa’s photographic search for the life his sister had lived and the people she had met. Combining photographs, handwritten notes and family snapshots in this scrapbook-like publication, Sobekwa explores the memory of his sister, his family history and the wider implications of disappearances in South Africa. The work is part of his wider practice on fragmentation, poverty and the long-reaching ramifications of Apartheid and colonialism across all levels of South African society.

Shoair Mavlian, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery and Chair of the Jury, said:  
“We are delighted to announce Lindokuhle Sobekwa as the winner of the 2025 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.

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.

We hope his work is an inspiration to younger photographers and artists to create something powerful with simple production and impactful storytelling.

It's been an honour to share Lindokuhle's work with our visitors over the last few months. Congratulations Lindokuhle!”

Anne-Marie Beckmann, Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, said:
“Huge congratulations to Lindokuhle!

With impactful rawness, his photobook “I carry Her photo with Me” shows the power of photography to move and connect us.

Published by MACK, his publication uses photography to create dialogue and poetically opens up questions about his family and his country. Deeply personal storytelling runs through the core of his work as he remembers his sister Ziyanda, and explores his family history, and the complexities of family relationships and dynamics.

Congratulations too to the other shortlisted artists - Rahim Fortune, Cristina De Middel and Tarrah Krajnak. We have been thrilled to bring their work together in London for this year's Prize.“

The other 2025 shortlisted artists – Cristina De Middel, Rahim Fortune and Tarrah Krajnak – all received £5,000. The exhibition showcasing all four artists is on view at The Photographers’ Gallery until 15 June 2025.

This year’s Jury are: Anne-Marie Beckmann (Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation), Gwen Lee (Co-founder Singapore International Photography Festival & Director DECK Photography Art Centre), Dana Lixenberg (Dutch photographer and previous nominee), Aron Mörel (UK publisher Mörel Books), and Shoair Mavlian (Director of The Photographers’ Gallery) as voting chair.

For more details visit: www.tpg.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

You can find an overview of the press images here. We will be happy to send you the press images in print quality upon request.

Media Contact:

Isabelle Hammer
media.foundation@deutsche-boerse.com 
Tel. +49 69 21117014

The Photographers’ Gallery

Alex Finch
alex@margaretlondon.com 

Robyn Deane
robyn@margaretlondon.com

About Lindokuhle Sobekwa

Lindokuhle Sobekwa (b. 1995, South Africa) was introduced to photography in 2012 through the Of Soul and Joy Project in Buhlebuzile high school in Thokoza township. His photography mentors there included Bieke Depoorter, Cyprien Clement­ Delmas, Thabiso Sekgala, Tjorven Bruyneel and Kutlwano Moagi. In 2013 Sobekwa joined Live Magazine as a part-time photographer. He has exhibited work at Kalashnikow Gallery in South Africa and with No Man's Art Gallery in the Netherlands and in their pop-up exhibitions in South Africa, Iran, and Norway. In the past year his work has been shown internationally at Paris Photo by both Goodman Gallery and Magnin-A gallery. Sobekwa joined Magnum Photos in 2018 and became a full member in 2022. He has undertaken assignments in Kenya and South Africa, as well as giving lectures about his work and photography in South Africa internationally.

About the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. The Foundation is responsible for the development and presentation of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, which now comprises over 2,400 photographic works by around 170 artists from 38 nations. It shows several public exhibitions a year in its exhibition space in Eschborn near Frankfurt am Main. The Foundation supports young artists through awards, scholarships or the annual talent programme of the Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Foam. The Foundation also works on exhibitions with international museums and institutions, as well as creating platforms for academic dialogue and research on photography.
www.deutscheboersephotographyfoundation.org

About The Photographers’ Gallery

The Photographers’ Gallery explores how photography is connecting, captivating and radically changing our world today. The Gallery’s programme and spaces – from exhibitions, events and digital platforms to the galleries, shop and café – all explore the beauty, complexity and future of photography. Right outside the Gallery, the very best of contemporary photography is shown for free, day and night, in Soho Photography Quarter.
www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk

About the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize History

Founded in 1996 by The Photographers’ Gallery, and now in its 29th year, the Prize has become one of the most prestigious international arts awards and has launched and established the careers of many photographers over the years. Previously known as the Citigroup Photography Prize, the Gallery has been in collaboration with Deutsche Börse Group since 2005. In 2016 the Prize was renamed the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, following the establishment of the Foundation as a non-profit organisation, dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. The winner of the 2024 Prize was Lebohang Kganye for the exhibition “Haufi nyana? I’ve come to take you home” at Foam, Amsterdam. Past winners include: Samuel Fosso, Deana Lawson, Cao Fei, Mohamed Bourouissa, Susan Meiselas, Luke Willis Thompson, Dana Lixenberg, Trevor Paglen, Juergen Teller, Rineke Dijkstra, and Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin.