Interview with exhibition curators - Ernest Cole: House of Bondage

This exhibition revisits South African photographer Ernest Cole’s ground-breaking project House of Bondage, one of the most significant photobooks of the twentieth century, at The Photographers’ Gallery (14 June - 22 Sept).

In this video, the exhibition curators Andrea Holzherr and Karen McQuaid, Senior Curator at The Photographers’ Gallery discuss the exhibition and how South African photographer Ernest Cole (1940–1990) is considered one of the most important chroniclers of Apartheid politics. 

In 1966 Cole fled South Africa and smuggled out his photographs, settling in New York. House of Bondage was published in 1967 and revealed the brutality and injustice of Apartheid to the world, vividly documenting the everyday life of the Black population in South Africa. It became one of the most significant photobooks of the twentieth century.  

In more than 100 photographs, the exhibition covers all 15 thematic chapters into which Cole has divided House of Bondage and also includes works from the chapter ‘Black Ingenuity’, which was not published in the original edition of the book. 

Exhibition realised in collaboration with Magnum Photos. Curated by Anne-Marie Beckmann and Andrea Holzherr and adapted for The Photographers’ Gallery by Karen McQuaid, Senior Curator. Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a donor advised fund held at The London Community Foundation and Gerry Fox.

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