South African photographer and filmmaker Jodi Windvogel has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award for her ongoing project Life Under Occupation: Inside Cissie Gool House & Cape Town’s Housing Crisis.
The £3,000 award (around US$4,100), supported by Nikon and facilitated by FotoDocument, recognizes outstanding documentary photography by women addressing pressing social or environmental issues through solution-focused storytelling.
Windvogel’s project centers on Cissie Gool House, a former Cape Town hospital that since 2017 has been occupied by over 1,500 people resisting displacement. Through an embedded lens, she documents not only the legal uncertainty and political tension surrounding the occupation but also the mutual care, dignity, and community-building within its walls. Her work treats the space both as a site of protest and as a living answer to an increasingly urgent housing crisis.
"I feel absolutely honoured to be receiving the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award 2025," said Windvogel. "With this award, I’ll be able to continue and complete my work at Cissie Gool House – while also letting the community know that their courage, resistance, and stories are being acknowledged on a global stage."
The annual award, named in honor of the late photographer Marilyn Stafford (1925–2023), is intended to support the completion of a cohesive, socially engaged documentary essay. As ever, the emphasis is on photography that not only exposes injustice but also proposes hope; a visual record that invites public engagement and, ideally, social change.
This year’s shortlist featured photographers from countries including South Africa, Brazil, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Ukraine, and the United States.
The jury praised Windvogel’s project for its emotional power and ethical clarity. "The images are raw, emotional, and powerful," said FotoDocument founder and juror Nina Emett. "Together they tell a creative and compelling story of vulnerable, dignified people taking power into their own hands."
Andrea Bruce, Nikon Ambassador and juror, added: "The winner showed a connection to the people and topic that outweighed style or technical skills. This is something more difficult to obtain and so appreciated."
Windvogel’s approach is part of a growing movement in documentary photography, one that favors collaboration over extraction and that seeks to reframe issues often portrayed through the lens of pity and distance. Her images do not romanticize hardship, but neither do they flatten it into cliché. Instead, they offer a portrait of resistance shaped by empathy, trust, and proximity.
For Neo Ntsoma, another juror, this was key: "What stood out to me about Jodi’s entry is the way she captures the strength and unity of the people at Cissie Gool House in a truly inspiring and dignified manner. Her storytelling challenges dominant narratives and showcases community resilience and resourcefulness."
As cities across the world grapple with housing inequality, Windvogel’s work stands as both witness and intervention, a project that acknowledges its own position within the struggle and uses the tools of photography to give voice to those fighting for a home.
Above: A video message from Jodi Windvogel about her award-winning project
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