Ernest Cole: Lost & Found Sunday, January 19, 2025 2 p.m.-4 p.m.

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Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck’s latest documentary chronicles the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa. His early pictures, shocking at the time of their first publication, revealed Black life under apartheid to the world. Cole fled South Africa in 1966 and lived in exile in the U.S., where he photographed extensively in New York City and the American South. He was fascinated by the ways this country could be so vastly different, and sometimes eerily similar, to the segregated culture of his homeland.  

During this period, Cole published House of Bondage (included in the Museum’s permanent collection), his landmark book of photographs denouncing the apartheid which, while banned in South Africa, cemented his place as one of the great photographers of the time at the young age of 27. Telling his personal story through Cole’s writings, the recollections of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film introduces this pivotal artist to a new generation. 

Tickets

• $9 general admission; $7 MFAH members, students with ID, seniors (65+)

Plan Your Visit

• This screening takes place in the Brown Auditorium Theater in the Law Building.
• Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map