Seen Here: One city. Twenty-four hours. Thousands of stories. From the first light of dawn to the pulse of midnight, 24 Hour Jozi puts Johannesburg in the hands of the people who live it — capturing its streets, characters, cultures and countless everyday moments, one frame at a time. This is Jozi, through Jozi’s eyes. #24HourJozi #JoziMyJozi #Johannesburg #24HourProject Photo Credit: Supplied
Johannesburg, 1 October 2026 — Johannesburg is preparing to tell its own story through thousands of photographs as Jozi My Jozi invites residents to document the city over a single 24-hour period as part of the global 24HourProject.
Taking place from midnight to midnight on Saturday, 3 October 2026, 24 Hour Jozi will put cameras and smartphones in the hands of Joburg residents, inviting them to capture the people, places, rhythms and everyday moments that define the city.
The initiative forms part of the international 24HourProject, an annual photography challenge that brings together photographers around the world to document their cities during the same 24-hour period. Participants are encouraged to upload one photograph for every hour they take part, creating a visual record of life as it unfolds.
Founded in 2012, the 24HourProject has attracted more than 40,000 photographers across 112 countries over 14 editions. The 2026 edition is supporting Action Against Hunger, with close to 2,500 photographers from 96 countries registered by late September.
Seeing Jozi from the inside
For Jozi My Jozi, the project offers an opportunity to challenge perceptions of Johannesburg by allowing the people who live and work in the city to define its visual narrative.
The invitation is deliberately broad. Professional photographers, students, street photographers, visual storytellers and smartphone users can participate from their own neighbourhoods, workplaces or streets.
Participants can photograph for a single hour or attempt the full 24-hour challenge.
The brief is simple: capture Johannesburg as it really lives and works.
That could mean the first taxi leaving a rank, a market opening at dawn, workers finishing a night shift, a restaurant kitchen closing, neighbours helping one another or music spilling onto a street.
“Jozi is too often described by people looking at it from the outside,” said Dawn Robertson, Jozi My Jozi visitor and creative economy catalyst.
“This project puts the camera in the hands of the people who live here and experience all aspects of our colourful, creative and sometimes crazy city on a daily basis.”
Robertson described every photograph submitted as an opportunity to advocate for Johannesburg by showing the city through the experiences of its residents.
Seen Here: Through the lens of Jozi. Johannesburg is more than a skyline or a headline — it is a living, breathing tapestry of people, places, movement and memory. On 3 October, Joburgers turn their cameras towards the city they know, creating a 24-hour visual love letter to Jozi in all its colour, complexity and character. #24HourJozi #JoziMyJozi #Johannesburg #Photography #CityStories Photo Credit: Supplied
Photographers take to the streets
The project will feature both an open public call and curated photographic crews working across different parts of Johannesburg.
Jozi My Jozi is collaborating with Joburg Photowalkers, Film My Soul, Market Photo Workshop and the Soweto Community Photowalk, with local guides helping photographers explore areas with which they have deep connections.
From 09:00 to 13:00, Ishvara Dhyan will lead a crew through the spice stores, mosques and markets of Fordsburg, while Charlie Moyo of Local Places will explore the gold-rush history of Marshalltown.
Urban planner and author Tanya Zack will lead a walk through Jeppestown, including the area colloquially known as the Ethiopian Quarter.
The afternoon programme will move into other distinctive parts of the city.
City Skate Tours will explore Braamfontein’s skateboarding culture, murals and street fashion from 13:00 to 18:00, while Dlala Nje will take participants through Hillbrow before ending the day at sunset from the top of Ponte Tower.
Curiocity will connect Maboneng’s converted warehouses with the traditions and culture of Kwa Mai Mai.
Meanwhile, a curated group of documentary photographers will spend the entire 24-hour period documenting Soweto, beginning at midnight on 2 October and concluding at midnight on 3 October.
Building a visual archive of Johannesburg
The project follows a successful collaboration last year, when Jozi My Jozi and Joburg Photowalkers assembled a team of 20 photographers to document Johannesburg throughout a full day.
That team travelled through locations including Soweto, Orlando Towers, Joburg Market, Kwa Mai Mai, Yeoville, Fordsburg and Constitution Hill, capturing the city’s changing character from night through to the following evening.
This year’s initiative expands the invitation to the entire city.
The photographs submitted will be used to build a visual record of Johannesburg across the 24-hour period, with Jozi My Jozi planning to curate selected images into a 24-image collection representing the city’s 24 hours.
Selected work will also form part of a public online gallery and an exhibition at the Market Photo Workshop early next year, with photographers credited for their work.
Photograph with care
While the project is open and self-directed, Jozi My Jozi is encouraging participants to approach street photography responsibly.
Participants are advised to travel with people they know, particularly after dark, seek consent where appropriate and respect the dignity and privacy of people being photographed.
The organisers have also made it clear that images exploiting people in vulnerable circumstances will not be selected for publication.
Participation is free, with registration taking place through the international 24HourProject platform. Participants are encouraged to tag @24HourProject and @jozi_my_jozi, use #24HourJozi, and include the time, location, photographer credit and a short description of the moment captured.
For Johannesburg, the project offers something more enduring than a day of photography: a collective visual diary created by the people who experience the city every day.
From the quiet moments before sunrise to the energy of the midnight streets, 24 Hour Jozi aims to capture a Johannesburg that is complex, creative, diverse and constantly moving — one frame at a time.
