The Most Prestigious Prize in Photography Just Named Its 2026 Winner
Zanele Muholi, Catherine Opie, Rotterdam's photography week, and what to see from LA to Paris
THE FRAME
Zanele Muholi Wins the 2026 Hasselblad Award
The Hasselblad Foundation has named South African visual activist Zanele Muholi as the recipient of the 2026 Hasselblad Award — the world’s most prestigious photography prize. The award carries a purse of SEK 2,000,000 (~$216,600), a gold medal, and a Hasselblad camera. Born in 1972 in Umlazi, South Africa, Muholi joins a lineage of laureates that includes Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, and Wolfgang Tillmans.
Muholi is best known for Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail the Dark Lioness), a self-portrait series that drew massive audiences at Tate Modern in 2024 and has become one of the defining photographic projects of our time. Across decades of work, Muholi has combined visual storytelling with activism — asserting visibility for Black queer people in South Africa through portraiture, documentation, and sheer force of presence. A solo exhibition opens at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg on October 10, 2026, running through April 24, 2027.
WHY IT MATTERS:
This is the photography world’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Muholi’s selection signals the field’s ongoing reckoning with who gets seen, who gets honored, and what photography is for. Their work has always insisted on visibility as a political act — and the Hasselblad Foundation has now placed that insistence alongside the medium’s most celebrated names. For collectors, Muholi’s market has been climbing steadily; this award will accelerate it.
ON VIEW
16 Exhibitions Worth Your Attention
Catherine Opie: To Be Seen
National Portrait Gallery, London · Through May 31, 2026
The first major UK exhibition of Catherine Opie’s work spans 30 years of portraiture exploring LGBTQ+ identity, home, intimacy, and power. Opie’s subjects — from leather-clad figures to suburban houses to surfers — form one of the most sustained and searching portrait projects in contemporary photography. National Portrait Gallery
Circulation(s) 2026
CENTQUATRE-PARIS · Through May 17, 2026
Now in its 16th edition, this annual festival showcases 26 emerging European photographers from 15 nationalities, curated by the all-female Fetart collective. The best discovery-oriented show of the spring — consistently the place to find names before the rest of the market does. Circulation(s)
Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs
Onassis Stegi, Athens · Through May 17, 2026
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker reveals 182 images from his parallel photographic practice — strange, disquieting, and unmistakably Lanthimos. Coincides with the release of his new MACK photobook VISCIN. A rare look at a major director’s visual universe beyond cinema. Onassis Stegi
Sabotage by Salvatore Vitale
Photo Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland · Through May 31, 2026
Salvatore Vitale’s investigation into surveillance, infrastructure, and the invisible systems that shape contemporary life. A timely show at one of Europe’s leading photography museums. Photo Elysée
FotoFest Biennial 2026: Global Visions — FotoFest at 40
Sawyer Yards, Houston · Through May 10, 2026
FotoFest marks its 40th anniversary with more than 450 artists from 58 countries spanning the organization’s four-decade archive. One of the most ambitious photography biennials anywhere this year. FotoFest
Martin Parr: Global Warning
Jeu de Paume, Paris · Through May 24, 2026
The first major posthumous survey of Parr’s work continues to draw crowds. 180+ images across 50 years, curated by Quentin Bajac. If you haven’t been yet, go. Jeu de Paume
Steidl Book Culture: Magic on Paper
DECK, Singapore · Opened Mar 12, 2026
A showcase of the legendary Göttingen publisher’s craft and legacy — exploring how Steidl has shaped the photobook as an art form for more than four decades. DECK
Nan Goldin: This Will Not End Well
Grand Palais, Paris · Through Jun 21, 2026
The first French retrospective devoted to Goldin’s videos and slideshows — what the artist calls “films composed of photos.” Six major works spanning 50 years, including The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, The Other Side, and Sisters, Saints, Sibyls. After Stockholm, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Milan, Paris is the final stop on a touring exhibition that has become a cultural event in every city it touches. Installed across buildings designed by architect Hala Wardé, forming a village within the Grand Palais. Grand Palais
Dana Lixenberg: American Images
Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), Paris · Through May 24, 2026
The first major retrospective of the Dutch photographer’s three-decade exploration of American communities — focusing on resilience, identity, and everyday life. Intimate portraits and documentary series that capture social, cultural, and economic landscapes with empathy and nuance. MEP
Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985
Getty Center, Los Angeles · Through Jun 14, 2026
How African American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora artists used photography as a tool for social change. Works by Carrie Mae Weems, Gordon Parks, Billy Abernathy, and Harry Adams, among others. Organized by the National Gallery of Art. An essential show for anyone interested in the medium’s political power. Getty Center
Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation
International Center of Photography (ICP), New York · Through May 4, 2026
Curated by David Campany, this is the first deep dive into how Atget’s reputation was built — and the pivotal role of Berenice Abbott in championing his legacy. A show about photography history that doubles as a story about how canons are made. ICP
Brassaï: Secret Paris
Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York · Through Mar 28, 2026
Nearly 40 photographs from Brassaï’s celebrated Paris by Night alongside selections from The Secret Paris — images of brothels, bars, and illicit encounters originally withheld from the 1933 book as too risqué, not published until 1976. Jointly presented with Grob Gallery, Geneva. The show coincides with a new Flammarion edition of Paris by Night and a parallel exhibition at Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Closing this week — last chance. Howard Greenberg Gallery
Ruby Bell: Glow
Leica Gallery, West Hollywood · Through Apr 13, 2026
Ruby Bell captures the luminescent energy of her subjects behind the scenes on motion shoots — from music videos to galas to narrative films. A vibrant show at Leica Gallery Los Angeles. Leica Gallery LA
Binh Danh & Renee Royale
ROSEGALLERY, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica · Through Apr 25, 2026
Through materially driven photographic processes and historically grounded imagery, Royale and Danh examine how bodies, land, and memory are shaped by colonial legacies and extraction. A strong two-person show at one of LA’s leading photography-focused galleries. ROSEGALLERY
JR: Horizons
Perrotin, Los Angeles · Through Apr 25, 2026
JR’s first solo show at Perrotin Los Angeles presents four bodies of work created across California — drawing from border walls, prison yards, and city facades to explore visibility, community, and the shifting meaning of perspective. Perrotin
Sony World Photography Awards 2026 Exhibition
Somerset House, London · Apr 17 – May 5, 2026
Thirty professional finalists from ten categories — the annual survey of contemporary photography at its broadest. Winners announced April 16. World Photography Organisation
IN FOCUS
Catherine Opie:
“All People Have the Right to Exist”
Catherine Opie is having the kind of year most photographers never get. Her first major UK museum exhibition, To Be Seen, opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London on March 5. A second solo show, The Pause that Dreams Against Erasure, opens at the Fridericianum in Kassel in July. And she’s hinting at a new body of work about cowboy culture.
Born in 1961 in Sandusky, Ohio, and based in Los Angeles for decades, Opie has built one of the most sustained portrait practices in contemporary photography. Her subjects range from leather-clad figures and queer communities to surfers, high school football players, suburban houses, and Elton John. The through line is a belief she articulated to CNN at the London opening: “Without representation, there is no visibility.”
Three self-portraits anchor the exhibition and, in many ways, her entire career. Self-Portrait/Cutting (1993) shows a childlike scene of a house and two figures holding hands carved into her back. Self-Portrait/Pervert (1994) depicts her in a leather gimp mask with the word “pervert” etched into her chest. A decade later, Self-Portrait/Nursing captures her feeding her infant son — the scar from “pervert” still visible. Together, the three images trace a personal and political arc that few artists have matched.
In the CNN interview, Opie was blunt about the current political climate. “There’s absolutely no way the Smithsonian will show me right now,” she said. Asked what she’d call herself, she didn’t hesitate: “I’m a disrupter.”
WHY IT MATTERS:
Opie’s work has been in major institutional collections for years — LACMA, the Guggenheim, the Whitney — but the London show arrives at a moment when the questions she’s been asking for three decades feel newly urgent. Her commitment to photographing people as they are, not as others wish them to be, puts her at the center of ongoing debates about identity, visibility, and the role of art in public life. For collectors: Opie’s market has been steady, but two simultaneous European museum exhibitions will raise her international profile significantly. The show at the National Portrait Gallery runs through May 31.
FAIR & FESTIVAL WATCH
This Week and Beyond
Unseen Photo 2026 — Rotterdam Ahoy, Netherlands
March 27–29, 2026
The 13th edition of Unseen joins forces with Art Rotterdam for the first time. Main Section plus Solo/Duo programs, and the Unseen Book Market at the Nederlands Fotomuseum with ~40 publishers. The anchor event in a week that transforms Rotterdam into Europe’s photography capital. Unseen Photo
Rotterdam Photo 2026 — Rotterdam
March 25–29, 2026
This year’s theme is “Echoes of Silence” — exploring the psychological landscapes of war and conflict through photography. A timely, sobering counterpoint to the fair energy across the city. Rotterdam Photo
Haute Photographie 2026 — Rotterdam 4H District
March 25–29, 2026
The 11th edition brings 50 photographers into an immersive layout that replaces traditional fair booths — a format that foregrounds the work over the gallery. Preview evening March 25. Haute Photographie
PhotoCarmel 2026 — Carmel, California
March 27 – May 10, 2026
A six-week celebration of photography across multiple venues on the Central Coast. Keynote speakers include Dr. Rebecca Senf and Kelli Connell. A destination event for West Coast collectors. PhotoCarmel
THE AUCTION BLOCK
Preview: Spring Photography Sales
Phillips Photographs — New York, April 11
The spring’s marquee photography auction features several six-figure lots. Highlights from the catalogue:
Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 123 — Est. $150,000–250,000
Tina Modotti, Bandolier, Corn, Sickle — Est. $100,000–150,000
Bernd and Hilla Becher, Winding Towers — Est. $100,000–150,000
Sebastião Salgado, Iceberg Between Paulet Island and the South Shetland Islands — Est. $40,000–60,000
Robert Mapplethorpe, Jack in the Pulpit — Est. $30,000–50,000
William Eggleston, Untitled (Louisiana) — Est. $30,000–50,000
Sotheby’s Photographs Part I & II — New York, April
Sotheby’s runs its spring photography auctions in two parts. Part II (online, closing April 16) features works by Edward Weston, Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Lewis Baltz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Graciela Iturbide, Peter Beard, and Masao Yamamoto.
WHY IT MATTERS:
April is shaping up to be the biggest month for photography auctions in 2026. With Phillips and Sotheby’s both running dedicated sales, and AIPAD bringing collectors to New York the same month, there’s a rare concentration of buying energy. The Tillmans estimate alone — up to $250,000 — signals confidence at the top of the market. We’ll report the results in the weeks ahead.
OFF THE PRESS
New & Noteworthy
VISCIN by Yorgos Lanthimos
MACK, 2026
The Oscar-nominated filmmaker’s latest photobook reveals the unsettling, carefully composed images that run parallel to his cinematic work. Published by MACK to coincide with his exhibition at Onassis Stegi in Athens. A crossover event for the photography and film worlds. MACK
Mixed by Dev Dhunsi
MACK, March 2026
Norwegian artist Dev Dhunsi explores mixed heritage through photographs, archival fragments, and text in a hybrid work where tenderness and defiance coexist. Made possible by the Nordic Photobook Award, presented by Fotogalleriet Oslo. A debut that announces an original voice. MACK
Mirage by Nick Hannes
Eyeshot, 2026
A visual reflection on the contemporary neo-liberal city — spaces shaped by entertainment, mass tourism, and artificial architectures. Hannes photographs the constructed landscapes we inhabit without questioning, turning street photography into a critique of spectacle. Pre-orders open through March 31. Eyeshot
THE EMERGING EYE
Pablo Ramos
How do you photograph someone who has been erased? Mexican photographer Pablo Ramos answers that question with The Black Album, a project shortlisted in the Creative category of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. Ramos takes archival photographs of Mexico’s disappeared — the tens of thousands of people who have vanished in the country’s ongoing crisis — and transforms them into silhouettes, stripping away individual features to create a haunting collective portrait of absence. The result is both monument and protest: each blacked-out figure simultaneously represents a specific person and the impossibility of recovering them. It is political photography at its most formally inventive — using subtraction to make loss visible. The Atlantic
OPEN CALLS
Opportunities & Deadlines
GRANTS & AWARDS
Ephemere Photobook Grant 2026 — Deadline March 31. No entry fee. Tokyo-based. Full production coverage for a debut monograph plus airfare to Tokyo for the launch.
KLPA 2026 Portrait Prize — Deadline March 31. Entry fee €15–65.
iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS) — Deadline March 31. From $7.50. The longest-running international mobile photography competition, now in its 19th year.
Centrale Festival (Fano, Italy) — Deadline March 29. No entry fee. Open to photographers and video artists under 30. Exhibition at the Rocca Malatestiana, June 2026.
CPA Artist Grants 2026 — Deadline April 7. $30 fee. Five grants of $5,000 each — emerging, mid-career, and landscape categories. Center for Photographic Art, Carmel.
PPA Photo Award 2026 — Deadline April 12. No entry fee. $2,000 prize for US-based emerging photographers.
Aperture Portfolio Prize — Awarded at AIPAD (Apr 22–26). All five finalists exhibited at the fair.
Inge Morath Award 2026 — Deadline April 30. No entry fee. $7,500 grant from the Magnum Foundation for women and nonbinary photographers under 30. One finalist also receives $1,000. Named for the first woman to join Magnum Photos. Recipient announced July/August 2026.
RESIDENCIES
Sirmione Photo Residency — Deadline March 31. No entry fee. Two-week residency on Lake Garda, Italy (October 2026). €2,500 allowance + €1,000 travel reimbursement + published book. Supervised by Magnum’s Andréa Holzherr.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Your Calendar for March 23–29
Mar 25: Haute Photographie preview evening, Rotterdam.
Mar 25–29: Rotterdam Photo opens — “Echoes of Silence.”
Mar 27–29: Unseen Photo 2026 at Art Rotterdam + Book Market at Nederlands Fotomuseum.
Mar 27: PhotoCarmel 2026 kicks off, Carmel CA.
Mar 28: Last day — Brassaï: Secret Paris, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York.
Mar 28: Center for Photographic Art Members’ Juried Exhibition opening, Carmel, California.
Mar 28–29: Frans Lanting Creativity Workshop, Santa Cruz, California.
Mar 29: Deadline — Centrale Festival open call (no entry fee, under 30).
Mar 31: Deadline — Ephemere Photobook Grant (no entry fee).
Mar 31: Deadline — KLPA Portrait Prize.
Mar 31: Deadline — Sirmione Photo Residency (no entry fee).
Mar 31: Deadline — iPhone Photography Awards (IPPAWARDS).
Continuing: Nan Goldin: This Will Not End Well, Grand Palais, Paris (through Jun 21).
Continuing: Martin Parr: Global Warning at Jeu de Paume, Paris (through May 24).
Continuing: Dana Lixenberg: American Images, MEP, Paris (through May 24).
Continuing: Photography and the Black Arts Movement, Getty Center, Los Angeles (through Jun 14).
Continuing: Catherine Opie: To Be Seen, National Portrait Gallery, London (through May 31).
Continuing: Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation, ICP, New York (through May 4).
Continuing: FotoFest Biennial 2026, Houston (through May 10).
Continuing: Ruby Bell: Glow, Leica Gallery, West Hollywood (through Apr 13).
Continuing: Binh Danh & Renee Royale, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica (through Apr 25).
Continuing: JR: Horizons, Perrotin, Los Angeles (through Apr 25).