Description
| Product ID: | 9781597115346 |
| Product Form: | Hardback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Title: | Ernest Cole: The True America |
| Page Count: | 312 |
| Subjects: | Individual photographers, Individual photographers, Photographs: collections, Photojournalism and documentary photography, Ethnic studies, Photographs: portraits, Photographic reportage, Black & Asian studies |
| Description: | Select Guide Rating The first publication of photographs taken by Ernest Cole in the United States during the turbulent and eventful late 1960s and early 1970s After fleeing South Africa to publish his landmark book House of Bondage (1967) on the horrors of apartheid, Cole resettled in New York. He photographed extensively on the streets of New York City and documented Black communities in cities and rural areas of the United States—traveling across the country in the months leading up to and just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The pictures reflect both a newfound freedom Cole experienced in America and an incisive eye for the inequalities of systemic racism. He released very few images from this body of work while he was alive, and the pictures were thought to be lost entirely until the negatives resurfaced in Sweden in 2017. This treasure trove provides an important window into American society and establishes Cole’s place in the history of American photography. The first publication of Ernest Cole’s photographs depicting Black lives in the United States during the turbulent and eventful late 1960s and early ’70sAfter the publication of his landmark 1967 book House of Bondage on the horrors of apartheid, Ernest Cole moved to New York and received a grant from the Ford Foundation to document Black communities in cities and rural areas of the United States. He released very few images from this body of work while he was alive. Thought to be lost entirely, the negatives of Cole’s American pictures resurfaced in Sweden in 2017. Ernest Cole photographed extensively in New York City, documenting the lively community of Harlem, including a thrilling series of color photographs, as he turned his talent to street photography across Manhattan. In 1968 Cole traveled to Chicago, Cleveland, Memphis, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, as well as rural areas of the South, capturing the mood of different Black communities in the months leading up to and just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The pictures both reflect a newfound hope and freedom that Cole felt in America, and an incisive eye for inequality as he became increasingly disillusioned by the systemic racism he witnessed. This treasure trove of rediscovered work provides an important window into American society and redefines Cole’s oeuvre, presenting a fuller picture of the life and work of a man who fled South Africa and exposed life under apartheid to the world. |
| Imprint Name: | Aperture |
| Publisher Name: | Aperture |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2024-01-18 |
