2025 Tierney Fellow revealed – Artslink.co.za

The Market Photo Workshop in partnership with The Tierney Family Foundation announces Xolani Ngubeni as the 18th recipient of the Tierney Fellowship.

The Tierney Fellowship has assisted in creating opportunities for photographers to cultivate the development of their practice. Photography is a multi-dimensional field of practice through which our societies remember, communicate, protest, advertise, develop science and make social impact. The role of the photographer in our society is therefore urgent. The Tierney Fellowship creates an ideal space for a photographer to develop such a rounded artistic practice. The Fellowship will provide Xolani with the necessary resources to support the research, self-directed learning in the growth of a photographic body of work. Collaborating with mentors and a photographic arts and journalism community that now has global reach. The Tierney Fellowship programme ran for the first time in South Africa in 2008 and partner institutions include the Market Photo Workshop, WITS School of Arts and The Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.

The selection of the 18th Tierney Fellow adhered to a thorough selection process with an expert panel of judges, which comprised of Matthew Tierney, Simangele Kalisa, Musa Nxumalo, Nsabimana Jean Claude and Jerry Vezzuso.

On being awarded the Tierney Fellowship at the Market Photo Workshop, Xolani reflected, “Being selected as the Tierney Fellowship recipient for 2025 is more than just an achievement but is also a deeply emotional moment that confirms the value of telling personal stories, and the recognition of the stories behind the photographs. This award gives me the time, resources, and mentorship to dig deeper, it allows me to expand Imbali into something generational a story that connects my past, my daughter’s future and the spaces between. To the Market Photo Workshop and the Tierney Fellowship Foundation, my mentors and those who continue to believe in my storytelling that comes from the heart “Thank You.” I will carry this honour with pride, responsibility and promise to continue planting seeds for those who come after me.”

About Xolani Ngubeni

Xolani Ngubeni is a photographer based in Katlehong east of Johannesburg. He developed a passion for photography in 2015 starting with weddings and events photography. In 2016, Xolani volunteered as a photographer for Kathorus Mail, a local community newspaper, and gained experience in visual storytelling. In 2024, Xolani completed the Advanced Programme in Photography at the Market Photo Workshop. He has been involved in the Of Soul and Joy Photo Project mentorship and has been part of several group exhibitions at Of Soul and Joy.

Xolani’s work for the Tierney Fellowship will reflect on the emotional, generational, and symbolic journey of a father-daughter relationship in contemporary South Africa. The work is rooted in his personal life – as a father raising a young daughter, and as a child raised by his grandmother in the absence of his own father. Xolani’s project serves as a broader metaphor for the cycles of love, responsibility, and restoration between generations.

Bekie Ntini commented on the 18th recipient of the Tierney Fellowship at the Market Photo Workshop, “Xolani presented a strong body of work, exploring a timely and relevant subject in the South African context: the father-daughter relationship and the absence of father figures in many households. The work demonstrates a thoughtful use of symbolism and a sincere personal engagement with the theme. The Fellowship’s strength is the ability to work with fellows to refine visual stories and build a cohesive photographic narrative – thus, we are confident that Xolani’s project will grow into a compelling and meaningful body of work and contribute on a broader Southern African history of males’ absence in homes.”

About The Tierney Fellowship

The Tierney Fellowship was created in 2003 by The Tierney Family Foundation to support emerging artists in the field of photography. The primary goal of the Fellowship is to find tomorrow’s distinguished artists and leaders in the world of photography and assist them in overcoming the challenges that a photographer faces at the beginning of his or her career.

The Tierney Fellowship programme ran for the first time in South Africa in 2008 and partner institutions include the Market Photo Workshop, WITS School of Arts and The Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town.

The aim of the fellowship is twofold: encouraging fellows to produce a new body of work and creating a global community of artists that functions as a crucial support network in an increasingly competitive field. The Fellowship supports the recipients both financially, by way of a grant, and technically and conceptually, with mentorship and guidance from experts in the field.

Fellows remain an important part of the programme after the conclusion of their structured mentorship. Seminars and critiques are held throughout the year to facilitate interaction between all current and past recipients, encouraging discussion about their photography, work experience and lives as artists.

About Market Photo Workshop

The Market Photo Workshop is a Johannesburg-based school of photography, gallery and resource center for practicing photographers. Since its establishment in 1989, the school has played an integral role in the training and growth of photographers from South Africa and further afield, while promoting photography through exhibitions, public debates and collaborative projects, especially within marginalized communities. The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation. Market Photo Workshop is the recipient of The Principal Prince Claus Award 2018.

For more information, please contact:

Bekie Ntini
Manager: Training and Public Engagement Programming
T 011 834 1444
E-mail: bekien@marketphotoworkshop.co.za

Market Photo Workshop
c/o Market Square
138 Lilian Ngoyi St

Entrance at Margaret Macingana Street
Newtown
Johannesburg

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The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation.

Bongiwe Potelwa
bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za
079 967 3441
The Market Theatre Foundation