Ernest Cole, the local, historical context of Apartheid in South Africa
Ernest Cole (1940-1990) is a South-African photographer that presents some of his artwork in Grey Art Gallery in New York University. The show illustrates powerful images of life in South Africa in the 60s. All the photos taken have a lasting impression. Some of his photographs are on view at the NYU gallery while others appear House of Bondage, his book published in 1967. Hasselblad Foundation in Gothenburg is a Swedish firm that supports Cole in his photography and other invention. The premier of Col’s gallery took place in Johannesburg in 2010. Presently it is available in European countries as well as North America.
Cole is best suited for his role as a photojournalist since he has the full knowledge of apartheid system His work is informative to the entire world since he is able to capture different aspects of life that include dignity and determination of Natives to live to tell the tale and create a better prospect.
Cole was born in Pretoria together with five other children. He was the fourth born in middle-class family where his father worked as a tailor and his mother as a laundress. He was obsessed by photography at a tender age. A family friend donated an old camera so that it could keep him busy with his exploration. He was born during the establishment of rigid segregation in an apartheid system that influenced his life.
He had passion in the line of photography and managed to introduce himself to a renowned magazine in the 60s.Jurgen Schadeberg the then editor recruited young Cole as a picture editor to enable him have exposure on the photography field. His duties at the magazine firm were to edit and sequence pictures. He collaborated with other young photojournalists that included Alf Kumalo, Peter Magubane, and Bob Gosani.
After five years in that field, he was able to come up with impressive images that capture the life of black South Africans during times of racial segregation and apartheid. His strong influence as a picture editor came from Henri Cartier-Bresson, A French photographer. Cartier-Bresson technique included street photography in an apparent way to capture the candid gaze of miners and other Native workers.
He stumbled on some of Bresson’s work in the course of his work and later he adopted some of the techniques in his work. Cole and Cartier-Bresson had similarities in their work that included the fascination of the bustle modern life that captured working people, crowded trains as people are up and running to attend their busy schedules.
The Grey Art exhibition in New York offers one a chance to gaze intimately on some of Cole’s work in the 60s while he worked with Drum magazine. Most of his work illustrates divisions between black and white people in South Africa. Some of the divisions include professional bureaucrat and an employee, and the distance between a man working in the mines and his family since apartheid system had division of labor. Cole captures loneliness of workers at the mines due to separation from their families. The system of racial segregation highlights the experiences of black male workers and black female workers. The pictures inform one on the tedious process a worker could go through prior to registration as a worker in the mines. Cole photographs each step of bureaucracy from registration, medical examination, and the conditions of food and life in general at the camp. Most of the pictures display men in queues that appear tired and frustrated. Most of them are lost in exhaustion.
In another group of photos, Cole depicts portraits of female servants and their dwellings. Black female workers were confined in white families homes and had to remain indoors they could not go outside. Women could remain in solitude. The Black women are more close to white families those male counterparts that spend time in the mines.
Cole shot the photograph in Mamelodi to depict the apartheid regime it is 20 by 29 centimeters. The picture shows nude children playing around a water faucet. The children appear exited on the suspension of water on the faucet. The young children cannot comprehend what their parents go through on a daily basis.
That picture depicts a period of intense struggle. The Sharpeville Massacre was such a period that left 69 Natives dead. The Rivonia Trial took place in 1963 where the ANC top leadership was convicted. The situation was no longer safe for Cole to continue with his work since it was difficult to realize his objective in the oppressive apartheid system. He was later apprehended in connection with pictures of tsotsis native mobsters that carried out heinous activities in Pretoria as a form of revenge to the white. The police enforcement demanded that Cole should identify the culprits and help in the investigation. Cole cited that he was a photojournalist and the police threatened to prosecute him. He did not cooperate with the police, and Joseph Lelyfeld assisted him to travel to America to prevent arrest.
Pensive tribesmen
This is another Gelatin silver print measuring 32 by 22 centimeters to depict new recruits in the mining sector. The photograph depicts the registration process and deplorable living situations. Black South Africans serve as nannies for the dominant whites. The Group Areas Act sought to forceful relocate Natives to other dwellings including Cole’s household. His photos captures razed homes of the natives in 1960.Young people including Cole encountered hardships in their school life. None of his work is didactic since all exuded humanity to connect Cole with his subjects. Cole permits the Natives to voice their concerns as they encounter daily struggles to make ends meet. In some of his works, Cole depicts the social interaction between Natives and whites.
The photo illustrates Whites and blacks in shebeens as they drink and chat together. The law prohibited interracial sex and another form of social interaction and had a hefty punishment. The picture shows both whites and blacks in a happy mood as they party, talk, and flirt in an apparent ignorance to the law. This picture enables one to take a break from other pictures that portray violence from most of the exhibitions. In one of the images, a black woman places her palms on a white man as he smiles, and they all look happy. In another similar snapshot, a white operates places his hand on a black woman’s breast as they both laugh. The apartheid prohibited interracial sex while Cole’s photos show a form of erotic pleasure and a bond of happiness between the two races.
Photo of the mines is a Gelatin silver print that measures 22 by 32 centimeters. The picture demonstrates primitive washing conditions for the miners. Shower rooms were one large room where all men would gather as some bathe and others do their laundry. The picture best illustrates the deplorable conditions of miners. In another similar photograph kitchen staff, deliver unpalatable food to the miners on their plates using a shovel. Another picture heralds nude workers so that doctors can examine their medical wellness as part of the registration process. Another photo portrays a miner looking intently at a photograph of his wife that he is not likely to see for many months due to the length of work indenture. The photograph has thirteen nude men with arms extended as they face a dark wall. Medical examination was essential to scrutinize their capability for physical labor
Photo of handcuffed Blacks is a Gelatin silver print measuring 32 by 22 centimeters. The South African law prohibited one of taking pictures of people handcuffed by police. Cole’s picture of handcuffed blacks is an iconic image of culprits arrested for trespassing to white areas. The law prescribed passing laws from the black area to white area to symbolize racial segregation.
Another image shows blacks waiting for a train at the station. There are no clear directions or pronouncements of the train. Natives would get in, head in an unknown direction while some jump across, and commit suicide. Other than a picture of dehumanization, a different snapshot shows the environment of the working class that includes a clean room with modern furniture, fruit crate on the table, and newspapers spread on the floor to represent a carpet. In another similar working class picture shows people socializing as they relax on a Sunday, they cook for themselves good meals other than partaking on the unpalatable food supplied at the camp.
A picture of a boy squatting is a 1967 snapshot that measures 32 by 22 centimeters. The boy seems to have the challenge of following the lesson in a packed classroom. Cole makes the effort to show experiences of the youth in their attempt to acquire education. The apartheid system makes it difficult for youth to obtain education as the classes are packed to capacity. The earnest nine-year old boy squats as he strains to follow the lesson. Another photo shows a new school for Natives that does not have school equipment. The teacher student is appalling since one teacher attends to 235 students.
The exhibition includes two video streams that inform on the same theme in 1960s. One of the videos that streams for 11 minute's detail the living conditions at the time when Cole worked for Drum magazine as a photojournalist. Additionally, the video has an interview of Cole as he explains his aspirations for the future after he faces a ban for working in the country. That video is crucial to inform the evidence of oppression. The other video stream is longer and captures 30 years later after the first video. That happens after the death of Cole. It has a more detailed biography that includes interviews with Cole’s colleagues. Some of the last photos taken by the photojournalist appear in the video stream as well as in the House of Bondage.
Cole’s exile life was tragic as he was cut from his country as he failed to dedicate his life through his passion of photography. He experienced poverty and schizophrenia that led to his death in 1990. The issue of isolation greatly affected the life of a photojournalist.
In summary, apartheid endures in South Africa for nearly two decades. Student campaigns to protest on the oppressive regime went along way to ensure the end of it. At the introduction, part of the exhibition depicts the role of Cole in challenging the status quo as he speaks concerning ills such as racial inequality. The photos belong to the past regime that suggests oppression and exploitation. Currently, South Africa has resolved the issue of the apartheid system.
Bibliography
Maharaj, Brij. "The Historical Development of the Apartheid Local State in South Africa: The Case of Durban." International Journal Of Urban & Regional Research 20, no. 4 (December 1996): 587-600.
McCullers, Molly. "‘The Time of the United Nations in South West Africa is Near’: Local Drama and Global Politics in Apartheid-Era Hereroland." Journal Of Southern African Studies 39, no. 2 (June 2013): 371-389.
Kloppers, H. J., and G. J. Pienaar. "The Historical Context of Land Reform in South Africa and Early Policies." Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal 17, no. 2 (June 2014): 677-706.
