During the 1960s young self-taught black photographer, Ernest Cole created one of the most harrowing records of life under apartheid.
Having earned his stripes at Drum Magazine, Cole left South Africa in 1966 in order to publish his book, House of Bondage, which thrust the injustices of South Africa into the eyes of the world. The book was immediately banned in South Africa and Cole died depressed and lonely in Harlem in 1990. Despite widespread critical acclaim, his work remained largely unknown in South Africa until last year when a major retrospective exhibition of his work opened at Johannesburg Art Gallery Johannesburg.
Now Cape Town has an opportunity to experience his legacy. Ernest Cole, Photographer features a selection of rare prints from the Hasselblad Foundation’s collection, most of them made by Cole himself, which are exhibited publicly for the first time in a major exhibition. The retrospective has already attracted coverage from the Sunday Times, The Independent in the UK and the New York Times and will travel on to Port Elizabeth; Durban and Mamelodi before moving to Europe and America. Iziko
SA National Gallery, Government Avenue, Company’s Garden, Cape Town, until April 30.