Ruth Seopedi Motau
Ruth Seopedi Motau (born 8 March 1968) is a South African photographer currently living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. Motau was the first black female photographer who was employed by a South African newspaper as photo editor. Her photography focuses on social documentary influenced by photojournalism and the marginalisation of black people and communities.
Also recorded as Ruth Motau
Ruth Seopedi Motau
Phiwe Nameyi · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Ruth Seopedi Motau
- Born
- 8 March 1968
- Birthplace
- Soweto
- Occupation
- Photographer
- Nationality
- South Africa.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Ruth Seopedi Motau (born 8 March 1968) is a South African photographer currently living and working in Johannesburg, South Africa. Motau was the first black female photographer who was employed by a South African newspaper as photo editor. Her photography focuses on social documentary influenced by photojournalism and the marginalisation of black people and communities.
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Ruth Seopedi Motau (born 1968) is a South African photographer. The photographer was born in Soweto. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q74160126 · wikipedia · Ruth Seopedi Motau
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Ruth Seopedi Motau • Born — 8 March 1968 • Birthplace — Soweto • Occupation — Photographer • Years Active — 1993–present • Notable Works — Shebeens (1998)
Early life
Early life
Motau was born in Zone 2 in Meadowlands, Soweto. She is the last born of 9 children. She went to Tswelelang Primary School, followed by Thutolore Secondary School in Meadowlands, Soweto and Turret College which was set up by the South African Committee for Higher Education Trust (SACHED). Afterwards, she visited George Tabor College (now George Tabor Campus of South West Gauteng TVET College) in Soweto to learn fitting and turning which she did not pursue. Motau found her passion in 1990 when she started studying photography at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg).
Career
Career
After completing the three-year course at Market Photo Workshop, Motau worked as intern at the Mail & Guardian newspaper (1993–1995), where she worked as photographer and picture editor from 1995 to 2002. She continued to work as picture editor for the South African newspapers The Sowetan (2004–2008) and for City Press (2008–2010). She has completed numerous documentary photo essays and series, among others Shebeens, Sonnyboy's Story, or Women and Municipal Service Delivery. Her work has been exhibited internationally and won numerous awards, its impact and legacy on documentary photography from South Africa is recognised through platforms such as the Photography Legacy Project (initiated by the Goodman Gallery, the David Goldblatt Legacy Trust and Wits Historical Papers).
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
• Black Looks, White Myths, Johannesburg Biennale, 1995. Curated by Octavio Zaya, Danielle Tilkin and Tumelo Mosaka. • Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 1995 • South African Family Stories: A Group Portrait IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 2002; KIT Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam • Ranjith Kally, Senzeni Marasela and Ruth Motau at Goodman Gallery, 2006 • Paris Photo international photography art fair, 2019, represented by Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg • Yithi Laba, a group exhibition by Lindeka Qampi, Neo Ntsoma, Zanele Muholi, Ruth Motau and Berni Searle, Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg, 2019
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1968
Ruth Seopedi Motau was born on 8 March 1968.
Methodology
Her work focusses on the everyday and the ordinary lives of South Africans. To gain the trust of the participants and the communities she is working in, she gets acquainted with them. She also tries her best to show the images to the people she photographed so that they are able to engage with the work. Motau references the former head of state Nelson Mandela as one of the people who also inspired her. She recounts how when she was tasked with photographing him, how he introduced himself even though it was very obvious who he was. Her work becomes visible through the humility in her attitude towards the people and stories she pursues, which are socio-political stories that effect our communities on a daily basis and that are usually overlooked for hard hitting tabloid stories.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Envisioning an Everyday: Ruth Seopedi Motau pictures 1990s South Africa anew, Safundi, 2025
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2025
reference work
- “Ruth Seopedi Motau”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q74160126: Ruth Seopedi Motau
General reference · Wikidata
Awards
• 2001 SABC award for women who made a difference in media • 1997 Freedom Forum Fellowship, Rhodes University
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Ruth Motau. Latitudes Online.
- 2.Their lenses capture the present . for the future. Sowetanlive.
- 3.Selection of image from photographic exhibition, by Ruth Motau, 'Women and municipal service delivery'. Agenda. 16. 46. 98–99. 2000-01-01. 1013-0950.
- 4.Nonyongo, Evelyn. The SACHED Distance Education Students' Support Programme. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning. 8. 2. 40–45. June 1993. 0268-0513.
- 5.Ruth Motau Projects – The Photography Legacy Project (PLP).
- 6.Sadiki, Leon. Photo Essay: Motau's moments in time. CityPress. 2019-08-17.
- 7.Motau, Ruth Seopedi. Sonnyboy's story : challenges. Rhodes Journalism Review. 2004. 24. 48–49. 2004-09-01.
- 8.Selection of image from photographic exhibition, by Ruth Motau, 'Women and municipal service delivery'. Agenda. 16. 46. 98–99. 2000-01-01. 1013-0950.
- 9.Jason, Stefanie. Envisioning an Everyday: Ruth Seopedi Motau pictures 1990s South Africa anew. Safundi. 0. 1–9. 1753-3171.
- 10.Staff Reporter. Prizes galore. The M&G Online. 6 August 2010.
- 11.Staff Reporter. Loeries and kudos at M&G. The M&G Online. 23 December 1997.
- 12.The 1st Johannesburg Biennale South African History Online. www.sahistory.org.za.
- 13.Johannesburg Biennale. Ruth Motau Johannesburg Biennial, Black Looks. 1995-02-28.
- 14.Witz, Leslie. Family Stories or a Group Portrait? South Africa on Display at the KIT Tropenmuseum, 2002–2003: The Making of an Exhibition. Journal of Southern African Studies. 32. 4. 737–754. December 2006. 0305-7070.
- 15.Rassool, Ciraj. South African family stories. Reflections on an experiment in exhibition making (Bulletin 378, Tropenmuseum). KIT Publishers. 2007. 978-906832-4921.
- 16.A R T T H R O B _ R E V I E W S _ G A U T E N G. artthrob.co.za.
- 17.GOODMAN - Exposants - PARIS PHOTO. www.parisphoto.com. 2019-11-04.
- 18.Yithi Laba exhibition opening. The Market Photo Workshop. 2019-02-22.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Envisioning an Everyday: Ruth Seopedi Motau pictures 1990s South Africa anew, Safundi, 2025Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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