20/08/2026
The Market Photo Workshop - in partnership with The Tierney Family Foundation, Michaelis School of Fine Art and Wits School of Arts - is proud to announce Onkemetse Lekone as the 19th recipient of the Tierney Fellowship at the Market Photo Workshop. She will be mentored by renowned South African photographer, Andrew Tshabangu.
Onkemetse Lekone is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist, documentary photographer, and visual storyteller currently enrolled in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Programme at the Market Photo Workshop. Her practice is rooted in long-term documentary projects that explore themes of identity, belonging, and community, with a particular focus on the relationships between people, place, and memory.
Onkemetse reflected on being selected as a Tierney Fellow, "I am deeply honoured to be named a recipient of the Tierney Fellowship. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my school and The Tierney Family Foundation for this incredible opportunity and for their continued investment in photographers and visual storytellers. Receiving this fellowship is both an affirmation of my photography work and an encouragement to continue exploring community stories. It offers the support to deepen my artistic development, challenge myself creatively, and grow as both a photographer and a storyteller. I look forward to engaging with the fellowship, learning from Ntate Andrew Tshabangu and fellow photographers around me, and contributing meaningfully to the legacy of the Tierney Fellowship. I hope the work I create at Bekezela informal settlement during this time will spark dialogue, foster understanding, and honour the people and experiences that inspire my work."
