Winner of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards, Open Competition, Object.
A blue Ford Cortina sits against the brightly painted houses of Bo Kaap in Cape Town, where bands of green, pink and blue divide the frame into distinct fields of colour.
At first glance the image appears playful and graphic, almost abstract. Yet the title, Colour Divides, carries a quieter historical resonance. South Africa’s past was shaped by systems that categorised and separated people along racial lines, and the language of colour remains inseparable from that history. In this photograph the coloured planes of the wall form literal divisions within the frame, subtly echoing the ways in which colour has historically structured space and identity.
Bo Kaap itself holds deep cultural significance. Established during the colonial period and long associated with Cape Malay communities, the neighbourhood is known for its vividly painted houses and layered history of resilience and cultural presence within the city.
Made while walking through the area, the photograph emerged as an instinctive response to a moment where colour, form and place briefly aligned. What appears as a simple street scene becomes something more ambiguous, where geometry, architecture and history quietly intersect.
Printed on museum quality paper.
Winner of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards, Open Competition, Object.
A blue Ford Cortina sits against the brightly painted houses of Bo Kaap in Cape Town, where bands of green, pink and blue divide the frame into distinct fields of colour.
At first glance the image appears playful and graphic, almost abstract. Yet the title, Colour Divides, carries a quieter historical resonance. South Africa’s past was shaped by systems that categorised and separated people along racial lines, and the language of colour remains inseparable from that history. In this photograph the coloured planes of the wall form literal divisions within the frame, subtly echoing the ways in which colour has historically structured space and identity.
Bo Kaap itself holds deep cultural significance. Established during the colonial period and long associated with Cape Malay communities, the neighbourhood is known for its vividly painted houses and layered history of resilience and cultural presence within the city.
Made while walking through the area, the photograph emerged as an instinctive response to a moment where colour, form and place briefly aligned. What appears as a simple street scene becomes something more ambiguous, where geometry, architecture and history quietly intersect.
Printed on museum quality paper.
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