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Mikhael Subotzky, 25, was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He has worked as a photographer since graduating from the University of Cape Town in 2004. His final-year university project, entitled Die Vier Hoeke (The Four Corners), consisted of an in-depth study of the South African prison system. It has received widespread acclaim both in South Africa and internationally, winning the 2007 Young Photographers Award at Perpignan, The 2007 KLM Paul Huf Award, The Special Jurors Award at the 2005 VIes Recontres Africaines de la Photographie in Bamako, and the 2006 F25 Award for Concerned Photography.

In 2005, Subotzky extended his focus on the criminal justice system by running photographic workshops with prisoners and photographing ex-prisoners in a series entitled Umjiegwana (The Outside). His latest project, focusing on the small Karoo Desert town of Beaufort West, will be exhibited in Cape Town, Amsterdam, and Verona later this year.

Subotzky has held solo exhibitions inside Pollsmoor Prison (2005), at the Goodman Gallery (2006), and at Constitution Hill (2006). His work has also been exhibited in Basel, Miami, Bamako, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Turin, Verona, Canary Islands, Rome, Verona, Paris, London, and New York. His prints are held in the permanent collections of the South African National Gallery (Cape Town), the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and the Museum of Modern Art (New York).