Jo Ractliffe at the Jeu de Paume: “I am not a militant photographer, but when you work in South Africa you cannot escape stories of violence”

Jo Ractliffe au Jeu de Paume : « Je ne suis pas une photographe militante, mais quand on travaille en Afrique du Sud on ne peut échapper aux histoires de violence »

South African photographer Jo Ractliffe discusses her upcoming retrospective at the Jeu de Paume, reflecting on her career path that began during the isolation of the apartheid era. Eschewing traditional photojournalism, Ractliffe developed a singular poetic language focused on landscapes and animals to address the heavy histories of violence, ownership, and displacement in Southern Africa.

François-Xavier Gbré Uses His Photography to Fill in History’s Gaps

Artist François-Xavier Gbré's photographic series "Radio Ballast" made its US debut in a duo exhibition at the International Center of Photography in late January. The work documents the century-old railroad system in Côte d'Ivoire, built by French colonizers, exploring the country's colonial history, independence, and modernization through landscapes, train stations, and the communities shaped by the railway.

Metropolitan Museum receives 6,500 works from photography collector Artur Walther

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has received a promised gift of more than 6,500 works from German American photography collector Artur Walther and his Walther Family Foundation. The trove spans post-war and contemporary photography from Africa, Japan, Germany, and China, alongside vernacular photos from Europe and the Americas. A special showcase of African photographers' works will debut in the Met's Michael C. Rockefeller Wing when it reopens after renovation later this month. The collection, which has operated exhibition spaces in Neu-Ulm, Germany, and New York's Chelsea district since 2010, includes major names such as Malick Sibidé, Zanele Muholi, Ai Weiwei, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Thomas Struth.

Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens

The Brooklyn Museum is presenting "Seydou Keïta: A Tactile Lens," an exhibition dedicated to the renowned Malian photographer Seydou Keïta. The show highlights his iconic studio portraits from the 1940s through the 1960s, emphasizing the tactile and material qualities of his photographic prints.

art mamadou abou catherine sarr collectors

Chicago-based collectors Mamadou-Abou and Catherine Sarr discuss their art collection, which spans works from West Africa, France, and the U.S., in an interview with Cultured. The couple, an investor and a jewelry designer, share how their collection began with Mamadou-Abou's discovery of contemporary African photography and emphasize a patient, conviction-driven approach to acquiring art. They also detail the SARR Prize, an initiative supporting emerging France-based artists with cash awards and a residency at Villa Albertine in Chicago.

In Kyoto, a photography festival unites artists on society's fringes

Kyotographie, an independent international photography festival in Kyoto, has announced 'The Edge' as its theme for the 2026 edition, following a focus on humanity in 2025. The festival will feature exhibitions exploring fringes, darkness, and extremes of life, including a posthumous show of Fatama Hassona's 'The Eye of Gaza', a focus on South Africa with works by Lebohang Kganye, Pieter Hugo, and a peripatetic library from A4 Arts Foundation, as well as Ernest Cole's 'House of Bondage' at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art—his first exhibition in Japan. Other highlights include Linder Sterling's survey 'Goddess of the Mind' at the Museum of Kyoto Annex and Anton Corbijn's 'Presence' at the Shimadai Gallery.

‘Out of Place’ : The Afterlives of Landscape.

The major retrospective ‘Out of Place’ at ART AFRICA showcases over 200 images by South African photographer Jo Ractliff, spanning four decades of her career. The exhibition traces Ractliff’s evolution from her early 1980s street photography to her mature, atmospheric landscapes that examine the scars of colonialism, apartheid, and regional conflicts in Southern Africa. By focusing on the 'afterlife' of violence rather than the events themselves, the collection highlights her unique ability to capture how history sediments within the physical terrain.

Reframing Leadership – Photography Open Call

Unpublished Africa has launched an open call for African photographers to submit work exploring the theme of leadership in their local contexts. The initiative seeks visual narratives that reflect everyday, creative, and collective expressions of leadership across the continent's diverse communities and environments.