PhotoXP: Photography and Storytelling Workshop

Juiz de Fora, Brazil
2 & 3 June 2026
Photography by Lindeka Qampi

What does it mean to hold a camera and tell your own story? And what becomes possible when photographers and a witnessing voice carry that question together?

The PhotoXP: Photography and Storytelling Workshop brought together visual activists Prof Zanele Muholi and Lindeka Qampi, joined by writer and scholar Dr Lydia-Anne Plaatjies, for two full days of teaching, sharing, and collective practice in Juiz de Fora, Brazil. Muholi and Qampi guided participants through the fundamentals of photography, not just as a technical skill, but as a tool for observation, self-expression, and documenting the lives, identities, and environments that matter most. Alongside them, Dr Plaatjies held the space as a witness and reflective presence, drawing out the deeper questions of narrative, archive, and the responsibility of telling one's own story.

From Muholi's call to build an active archive, to Qampi's intimate street-level gaze, to Plaatjies' grounding in reflective practice and the written word, participants were offered a rich, layered understanding of what it means to be a visual storyteller and what it means to have your story held with care.

The invitation was clear: pick up the camera, frame your own world, and trust that your story deserves to be seen.