South African photographer Ernest Cole (1940–1990) is considered one of the most important chroniclers of apartheid politics. 

This substantial exhibition revisits Cole’s ground-breaking project House of Bondage.

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. 

Join a tour with Karen McQuaid, Senior Curator at The Photographers' Gallery, who worked closely with curator Andrea Holzherr to adapt the show for The Photographers' Gallery.