Ernest Cole, Untitled (1960) (From House of Bondage (1967))

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PRIMARY MATERIALS FOR October 31

View the photograph: Ernest Cole, Untitled (1960) (From House of Bondage (1967))

View a high-quality reproduction of the photograph on the collections webpage of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York.

Read a little bit about Cole’s pathbreaking photobook, House of Bondage, the photographs for which he had to smuggle out of South Africa and which he had to emigrate to the United States to publish (where he lived in exile for the rest of his short life), on the occasion of its re-publication in a new (2022) edition by Aperture.

Read this short review (by Rachel Rosin) of the re-edition of the photobook.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY (Complete BEFORE you come to class):

Research and curate 5 photographs by Ernest Cole/South African documentary/struggle photography; bring in to share

As part of your curated image collection, write and bring in a short paragraph (approx. 150-200 words) explaining why you chose the photographs you did. Your reasons may be connected with any aspect of the photograph/s.

Intertexts/dialogues:

Jürgen Schadeberg (struggle-era photographer, active in South Africa)

Peter Magubane (struggle-era photographer, active in South Africa)

Gideon Mendel (struggle-era photographer, active in South Africa, also working contemporary)

Sam Nhlengethwa (struggle-era photographer and artist, active in South Africa)

David Goldblatt (struggle-era photographer, active in South Africa, especially On the Mines (1973) and Some Afrikaners Photographed (1976), also made significant post-apartheid work)

Santu Mofokeng (struggle-era photographer, active in South Africa, also made significant post-apartheid work)

Sabelo Mlangeni (photographer, contemporary South Africa)

Lebohang Kganye (photographer and artist, contemporary South Africa)

Zanele Muholi (photographer and artist, contemporary South Africa)

Berni Searle (photographer and artist, contemporary South Africa)

Tracey Rose (photographer and artist, contemporary South Africa)