The
PhMuseum 2025 Photobook Award has been awarded to Botswanan multimedia artist
Thero Makepe for his compelling project
We Didn’t Choose To Be Born Here. The decision was made by a distinguished international jury, including Max Pinckers (Photographer), Yumi Goto (Independent Curator and Publisher), Karla Hiraldo Voleau (Photographer), Giuseppe Oliverio (PhMuseum Founding and Artistic Director), and Camilla Marrese (PhMuseum Visual Editor). The announcement took place on
October 18, 2025, during the Photobook Mania Award Ceremony in Bologna, Italy.
Juror
Yumi Goto praised Makepe’s work:
“A project that perfectly captures the essence of what a photobook award should celebrate—deeply personal, yet universally resonant. It honors both the artist and the wider creative community.”
Karla Hiraldo Voleau highlighted the project’s emotional depth:
“From the start, Thero’s proposal impressed with its generosity and vision. I was moved by how personal family narratives were woven together with the histories of Botswana and South Africa. Despite its weighty subject, the work remains luminous and hopeful. The innovative use of archival material and diverse visual forms makes this a truly deserving winner.”
PhMuseum’s
Giuseppe Oliverio emphasized the project’s layered approach:
“Thero’s research-driven and collaborative process merges historical fact with personal storytelling in a meaningful way. We look forward to developing a photobook that reflects his passion and depth.”
The project’s title originates from a recurring family sentiment expressed during times of hardship and separation.
We Didn’t Choose To Be Born Here combines staged portraits, reenactments, documentary images, and archival materials to examine the interplay between personal responsibility and collective struggle, the influence of social class on ideology, and intergenerational trauma. The work also revisits Makepe’s involvement in the 2016
#FeesMustFall protests at the University of Cape Town, a movement advocating for free and decolonized education in South Africa.
As part of the first edition of the open call, Makepe’s project will be developed into a photobook curated and published by PhMuseum, covering all production and distribution. The book will debut during
PhMuseum Days 2026 in Bologna, with a print run of at least 500 copies. The artist will receive 50 copies and 5% of royalties.
In collaboration with
MPB, a
Special Mention was awarded to Dutch photographer
Dragan Saric (originally from the former Yugoslavia) for his evocative project
Tomorrow Hotel. Saric received an €800 voucher for photo and video equipment on MPB.com.
Carmen Spella, MPB Senior Partnerships and Collaborations Manager (Europe), praised the work:
“Tomorrow Hotel captivated us with its quiet strength and emotional honesty. It meditates on transformation, identity, and the transient spaces that define our lives. We are proud to help amplify such a reflective, boundary-crossing voice.”
Saric’s project parallels his own fragmented Yugoslav identity with Taiwan’s contemporary quest for self during mandatory hotel quarantine. Combining essays with a traditionally bound artist book,
Tomorrow Hotel evokes a liminal state between memory and belonging—a poetic reflection on existing between what was and what might be.
PhMuseum extends its gratitude to all participants, jurors, and partners who contributed to the success of this inaugural edition. The
30 shortlisted projects are on display at Photobook Mania 2025 and featured in the PhMuseum Annual Magazine. For those unable to attend in person, the full selection is available online at
phmuseum.com/pb25
