Why this photographer prefers to be called a visual activist | [Video]

(CNN) — “The lack of queer visual history compelled me to produce what was missing,” says Zanele Muholi of their creative practice. For more than two decades, the 52-year-old South African photographer has turned their camera on the country’s LGBTQ community, bringing the stories of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and intersex lives to major art institutions around the world, raising questions about race and representation, and fostering a spirit of empowerment.

In Europe, a touring Zanele Muholi survey has been presented in museums from Paris and Berlin to Copenhagen and Reykjavik, and recently opened at London’s Tate Modern. It runs concurrently with two US shows: “Zanele Muholi: Eye Me” at The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, their first major West Coast exhibition (ends August 11), and a showcase of new work at Southern Guild gallery in Los Angeles (until August 31). Between them, the work on display ranges from …