The brutality of staring

A new documentary directed by Raoul Peck shines a light on the powerful yet under-recognised work of South African photographer Ernest Cole. Peter Dench finds out more

- Peter Dench

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is a 2024 documentary directed by Raoul Peck that chronicles the life and work of one of South Africa's first Black freelance photographers. Cole's seminal 1967 photobook, House of Bondage, published when he was just 27, provides a harrowing inside look at the brutal realities of apartheid, bringing global attention to the systemic oppression in South Africa. Following its publication, Cole was forced into exile, spending the remainder of his life in the United States and Europe.

Director Raoul Peck has a reputation for politically charged, visually compelling documentaries. I Am Not Your Negro (2016) explores the history of racism in the United States. The film is based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript, Remember This House, and uses Baldwin's words to examine the impact of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Exterminate All the Brutes, a groundbreaking four-part mini-series that premiered on HBO in 2021, is an exploration of the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism, from America to Africa, and its impact on society today.

Narrated by American actor LaKeith Stanfield, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found weaves Cole's own writings, archive interviews, testimonies from family, friends and witnesses with his evocative photographs, providing a profound insight into his perspective and the socio-political landscape he portrayed. 'My name is Ernest Cole. I was born March 21, 1940 in Pretoria, South Africa. In the sixties, every day, every hour, despite the dangers, I photographed apartheid without stopping. In their gaze, their gestures, I tried to find meaning. Chronicling misery, injustice and cruelty have become my everyday,' Cole reflects.