The Bondage of Apartheid by Ernest Cole

Ernest Cole was a black South African freelance photographer who documented the everyday horrors of apartheid endured by black people in the 195os and 60s.

Working undercover and at great personal risk Cole had managed to pass himself off  to authorities as being of mixed race, rather than black , allowing him access to daily situations, events and an  environment which culminated in the publishing of a life long work, “House of Bondage” in 1967.

Coke was forced to leave South Africa and lived a stateless life travelling in Europe and the United States .

Cole died aged just 49 and ended his days reportedly penniless and living on the streets of New York.

After his death negatives of 60,000 images were discovered in a bank vault in Sweden .

This massive visual esssy and record on the horrors of apartheid provides a stunning and unique insight into one of the greatest injustices of the 20th century .

Images courtesy of the Foam Museum in Amsterdam .