Photography saved her from suicide and now internationally recognised South African visual artist Zanele Muholi, most known for her stark portraits of black LGBTQ communities, is using her success to empower others.

Muholi's growing renown keeps her busy: she has been working on a project about water in Panama and collaborating with a London non-profit for a show next month, while also opening a new exhibition in Portugal.

It was a priority for her to get back to South Africa for last week's Black Women in Photography Conference, at the school in downtown Johannesburg where she started out 22 years ago.

Muholi arrived just in time from a stay in hospital in Panama, where she had fallen into a dump of medical waste during a photo shoot and been jabbed by a needle.

"It was a wake-up call

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