Cape Town steps into the global spotlight as Emotions of the Sun, Veuve Clicquot’s travelling exhibition with Magnum Photos, opens at Youngblood Gallery on Bree Street. Running from December 4-21, the exhibition brings together 40 photographs by eight of Magnum’s most celebrated artists. Each was invited to explore the sun not simply as a source of light, but as an emotional, cultural and universal force, a brief that has produced a collection that feels at once intimate, expansive and deeply human.
It is the first time this exhibition has come to South Africa, after earlier showings in Milan and New York. Cape Town, with its soft morning glow, sharp summer brightness and famously cinematic sunsets, is a fitting new home. Veuve Clicquot’s solaire spirit, its long-held philosophy of optimism, warmth and creative energy, finds an effortless echo here. “The Sun is our ultimate muse,” said Thomas Mulliez, president of Veuve Clicquot. “Cape Town embodies this spirit beautifully. It feels only natural for Emotions of the Sun to find a home here.”
Magnum Photos, founded in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, George Rodger and David “Chim” Seymour, remains one of the world’s most influential photographic agencies, known for its blend of artistry, journalism and storytelling. Its members have documented the world’s most pivotal moments while also shaping how light, form and emotion are perceived in contemporary photography. The agency’s involvement ensures that this is not merely an exhibition of images, but a study in how some of the world’s best photographers see, interpret and converse with the sun.
The featured artists collectively span multiple generations, geographies and visual languages. Steve McCurry, widely recognised for his portraits and his ability to capture the quiet pulse of human resilience, turns his lens to Mount Fuji, photographing the mountain and sun across a single day.
Cristina de Middel, known for blending documentary with playful, often surreal storytelling, transforms Salvador de Bahia into a stage drenched in colour and movement. Meanwhile, Australian photographer Trent Parke, whose work often explores the psychological edges of the everyday, merges sun and ocean in a series of monumental images shot in Adelaide. His pictures feel both vast and intimate, full of energy yet anchored in a contemplative stillness.
Alex Webb, famed for his richly layered compositions and his long engagement with Latin America, turns to Oaxaca, Mexico. There, he works with the city’s architecture, shadows and lively streets to create scenes infused with emotion, complexity and sun-soaked texture. Nanna Heitmann, whose work often traces quiet human stories across landscapes, photographs Spain’s Bardenas Reales. Her images draw on colour and form to reflect moments of connection and quiet introspection.
Olivia Arthur, co-founder of London’s Fishbar Studio and admired for her sensitive, often poetic visual approach, captures the tail end of summer in rural France. Her photographs feel like memories, soft, warm and close to the skin. Iranian photographer Newsha Tavakolian offers an interpretation rooted in symbolism and inner experience, presenting the sun as a motif of strength, hope and emotional resilience amid the complexities of Iranian life.
Bringing the exhibition full circle is Lindokuhle Sobekwa, whose contribution marks a significant homecoming. A member of Magnum since 2022, Sobekwa has become one of South Africa’s most compelling photographic voices. His images, captured across the country’s varied landscapes, speak to how the South African sun shapes memory, place and community. “Being part of this collective of Magnum photographers has been humbling and transformative,” he said. “It has reminded me how emotion and light connect us all, wherever we are in the world.”
Together, these interpretations create a layered global portrait of the sun. Not simply as a physical presence, but as an emotional one, capable of stirring joy, nostalgia, introspection and hope. The works move fluidly between continents and cultures, highlighting how the sun draws us into shared experience even as it illuminates our differences.
The exhibition extends beyond the visual. Visitors will be able to move through the immersive solaire universe, lingering at the Sun on Your Plate Café, where local culinary creative Seth Shezi presents a menu inspired by sunlight and warmth, paired with Veuve Clicquot’s bright, citrus-forward cuvées. A gifting boutique allows guests to personalise Veuve Clicquot collectables, including the Clicquot Arrow, Ice Jacket and limited-edition summer accessories.
Emotions of the Sun will take place at Youngblood Gallery in Cape Town from December 4-21. The exhibition is open Monday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Tickets are R200 via Howler and include a glass of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label and access to the exhibition, the café and gifting space.
