Mandebele Photo Gallery

29/08/2026

OPEN CALL: PHOTOGRAPHERS

THROUGH OUR EYES – COMMUNITY PORTRAITS

MaNdebele Photo Gallery, in collaboration with Art on Paper , invites photographers from across the globe to submit their work for consideration in an upcoming group exhibition. Open call is open to both amateur and professional photographers.
Participants must be 18 years or older.

We are interested in your story of your community.

Under the theme Through Our Eyes – Community Portraits, we are seeking powerful portrait photography that captures the soul, diversity, identity and resilience of communities.

This exhibition explores how we see ourselves, our neighbours and the people who are shaping the world we live in.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Submit portrait rooted in or connected to a specific community.
• Maximum of 3 images per photographer.
• Low-resolution JPEG or PNG files.
• Minimum 300 pixels on the longest side.
• Standard colour correction and cropping are permitted.

Digital manipulation and AI-generated images are strictly not allowed.

HOW TO APPLY

Please email your submission to:

[email protected]

Email Subject Line:
Through Our Eyes _ Your Name

Selected photographers will have the opportunity to exhibit their work at MaNdebele Photo Gallery in Soweto, South Africa.

Outcome:

Selected photographers will be announced on the 20th November 2026
Exhibition date: 02 February 2027

We look forward to your submissions!

Photo credit: Gopolang Khumbulani Ledwaba

21/08/2026

📣 EXHIBITION OPENING 📣

Lotjhani!

You’re invited to the opening of KWASUKA SUKELA at MaNdebele Photo Gallery.

About the exhibition

KWASUKA SUKELA is a group exhibition celebrating storytelling within communities, bringing together artists and storytellers from different backgrounds across South Africa.

Working across different mediums, the participating artists use their practices to tell stories, preserve memories and archive history as forms of expression.

All are welcome.

Date: 26 September 2026
Time: 13:00–17:00
Venue: MaNdebele Photo Gallery, Bram Fischerville, Soweto

Entrance is free.

Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00–17:00

For more information:

E: [email protected]
T: +27 (0) 10 229 0711

30/06/2026

Moments from the opening of BREAK EVEN, held on 30 May 2026, curated by Gopolang Ledwaba.

About the exhibition

BREAK EVEN reflects on the 1994 South African general election and the promise of democracy as a new dawn. Bringing together a body of work from the late 1980s, through the transition period, and into the early years of democracy, the exhibition traces the tensions, ruptures, and aspirations that shaped this pivotal moment in our history.

Featuring works by:

• Alon Skuy
• Andrew Tshabangu
• Cedric Nunn
• Greg Marinovich
• Graeme Williams
• Gille de Vlieg
• Ruth Mutau
• Jacob Mawela
• Siphiwe Mhlambi
• Oupa Nkosi

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the opening. We appreciate your support and look forward to sharing more updates from the exhibition soon.

30/06/2026

27/05/2026

It’s been a little while, we’ve missed you, and we’d love to gather again soon.

Join us for an intimate photo book session centred around Andrew Tshabangu’s Footprints, a powerful publication spanning over 20 years of his photographic practice. In a 2017 interview with Art Africa Magazine, Tshabangu described “the streets as his studio,” a sentiment deeply reflected throughout the book.

Footprints was published alongside the exhibition of the same name, curated by Thembinkosi Goniwe.

On 28 May, we’ll gather at the Wits Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts in Braamfontein for an afternoon of conversation, reflection, and shared appreciation for Footprints.

This session is presented in collaboration with MMandebele Photo Gallery and the Wits Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts.

If you’re a fan of Tshabangu’s work, or if you own a copy of Footprints, we would love for you to join us.

📍 Meet at the WAM foyer
🕑 13:45 for a 14:00 start
📧 RSVP: [email protected]

11/05/2026

Thomas Scheier and Gopolang Ledwaba in Soweto, South Africa, use photography to create new opportunities for young people. Through the project “Positivity in...

30/04/2026

29/04/2026

We’re raising funds to bring Break Even to life -a photographic exhibition taking place on 30 May 2026 at MaNdebele Photo Gallery.

Your support, no matter the amount, will go a long way in helping us realise this exhibition and make it accessible to our community.

My name is Gopolang Ledwaba, and I am the Founder and Director of MaNdebele Photo Gallery-a small, independent photographic gallery based in Bram ...

28/04/2026

Lotjhani Bakwethu,

You are warmly invited to Break Even, a photographic exhibition hosted at MaNdebele Photo Gallery.

Break Even reflects on the 1994 South African general election and the promise of democracy as a new dawn. Bringing together a body of work from the late 1980s through the transition period and into the early years of democracy, the exhibition traces the tensions, ruptures, and aspirations that shaped this pivotal moment in our history.

Featuring works by:
Alon Skuy
Andrew Tshabangu
Cedric Nunn
Greg Marinovich
Graeme Williams
Gille de Vlieg
Jacob Mawela
Siphiwe Mhlambi
Oupa Nkosi

alongside other important photographic voices.
This exhibition gathers images that form part of our shared visual memory-inviting reflection, dialogue, and a deeper consideration of where we come from and where we find ourselves today.
Come through. Be present. Sit with the work.

📍 MaNdebele Photo Gallery
📅 30 May 2026