Current Review(s)
Ernest Cole, Photographer
Ernest Cole at Johannesburg Art GalleryYears after the fall of apartheid, Ernest Cole’s work finally reaches the eyes of South African citizens. This is ironic considering that Cole’s work was intended to be shown to his contemporary public in an attempt to expose the ills of the apartheid era. His book, House of Bondage (1967) was published while Cole was in exile to raise awareness about the manner in which the apartheid government (scarcely) maintained spaces designed for black people. In a neatly curated show consisting of more than a hundred photographs in three exhibition rooms of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the exhibition 'Ernest Cole, Photographer' tells a story of apartheid, a story that some might feel has been told too many times before. A sympathetic accompanying documentary by Rune Hassner orientates the viewer towards Cole’s sad, unknown life.
The exhibition, which is scheduled to tour to other venues internationally, is on show in South Africa first, in honour of Cole and his family. This body of work has never before been seen internationally or locally. The works on show consist of photographs donated to the Hasselblad Foundation, following Cole’s stay in Sweden in the 1980s, where he lived with another photographer who, in turn, became the custodian of Cole’s work after his death in 1990. The location of most of the negatives of Cole’s earlier work, including the works in House of Bondage, is still unknown.
02 October 2010 - 21 November 2010
Listings(s)
'Ernest Cole, Photographer'
Ernest Cole at Johannesburg Art GalleryCurated by Gunilla Knape of the Hasselblad Foundation in Sweden, 'Ernest Cole, Photographer' is the first major retrospective of the photographic work of Ernest Cole. Best known for his book House of Bondage, which delivered a strident critique of the apartheid system, Cole spent much of his career in exile. As a result few of his works have been shown before in South Africa. 'Ernest Cole, Photographer' offers a rare glimpse into the life and vision of this extraordinary photographer.
02 October 2010 - 21 November 2010
'Ernest Cole: Photographer'
Ernest Cole at Iziko South African National GalleryErnest Cole believed passionately in his mission to tell the world, in photographs of unsurpassed strength and gravitas, what it meant to be black under apartheid. In order to publish his book, House of Bondage, Cole went into exile. Immediately after it was produced in 1967, his publication was banned here, and this major critique of apartheid is seldom seen in South Africa.
Tio fotografer, an association of Swedish photographers with whom Cole worked from 1969 to 1975 when he lived in Stockholm, received a collection of his prints, and these were later donated to the Hasselblad Foundation. Never before internationally exhibited, these extremely rare photographs are now to be seen publicly for the first time in a major exhibition. The Hasselblad Foundation chose South Africa as the first venue for this unique world tour in honour of Ernest Cole and his family.
25 February 2011 - 30 April 2011
