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Past event
Discussing the cultural and historical impact of photographer Ernest Cole
These tickets are to attend the talk in person at Autograph's gallery in East London
Autograph
Rivington Place
London EC2A 3BA, UK
This event will also be livestreamed, which can be watched from anywhere.
Ernest Cole is best known for his radical images documenting the violence of apartheid in South Africa. After fleeing the country in 1966, he published House of Bondage, which became one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century.
This year marks a significant moment in unearthing Cole’s legacy beyond his time in South Africa. Our current exhibition, A Lens in Exile, is the first to showcase his photographs from New York City, where he spent his early years in exile photographing Harlem and Manhattan. Cole's work during this period focused on the experience of living in a racialised America.
Also launching this year is Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, a new documentary by filmmaker Raoul Peck that seeks to reveal more about Cole’s life, particularly the period between his exile from South Africa and his death from cancer at age 49 in 1990.
Join us in person at Autograph's gallery, where Raoul Peck will be in conversation with Autograph’s director Mark Sealy. Surrounded by Cole's photographs, they will discuss the cultural and historical impact of his legacy.
The first exhibition of Ernest Cole's photographs documenting New York City during the height of the civil rights movement in America – capturing the vibrant expression of blackness and community during this time.
Read more 
Raoul Peck’s complex oeuvre includes the films The Man by the Shore (Competition, Cannes Film Festival 1993); Lumumba (Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2000); Sometimes in April (Competition, Berlinale 2005); Moloch Tropical (TIFF 2009, Berlinale 2010) and Murder in Pacot (TIFF 2014, Berlinale 2015).
Raoul Peck was a member of the Berlinale jury in 2002 and of the Cannes Festival jury in 2012. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch Association awarded him the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to human rights. In 2021, he is honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from DOC NYC and in 2024, with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto. In 2017, his documentary on writer James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary and won the Audience Award at the Toronto Festival and the Berlinale. In 2018, it won the BAFTA and the Cesar for Best Documentary. This film was co-produced with ARTE.His film, The Young Karl Marx, was presented at the Berlinale the same year. Exterminate all the Brutes, is a groundbreaking four-part mini-series, produced for HBO with ARTE, which tells a counter-narrative to Euro-centric history. The mini- series won a Peabody Award in 2022.
His last film, Ernest Cole, Lost and found, was premiered at the Cannes Festival in Séance Spéciale, and won the Oeil d’Or in May 2024.
His company Velvet Film was founded in 1989 and operates in the United States, France and Haiti.
Dr Mark Sealy OBE, RPS Outstanding Service Award; Executive Director of Autograph (1991 -) and Professor, Photography, Rights and Representation at University Arts London - London College of Communication. Sealy is interested in the relationship between art, photography and social change, identity politics, race, and human rights. He gained his PhD from Durham University, England.
He has written for many of the world’s leading photographic journals, produced numerous artist publications, curated exhibitions, and commissioned photographers and filmmakers worldwide. In addition, he is an advisor (management + committees) to several leading cultural institutions, including Tate, Paul Mellon Centre for the Studies in British Art, Art Fund, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, World Press Photo, and the International Centre of Photography in New York, USA.
Lawrence and Wishart have published Sealy’s critical writings on photography. Photography: Race, Rights and Representation, published 2022 and Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time, published 2019.
Limited edition print, edition of 30
An opportunity to collect Ernest Cole's photography at a special price and support Autograph
Everyone is welcome at Autograph. Planning a visit? Have a look at our Visit Us page to find out more about getting to the gallery, accessibility and more.
Autograph welcomes people with all types of disabilities.
Our building and entrance is step free. A wheelchair accessible lift goes to all floors.
This event will be seated.
This event will take place in Gallery 1, on the ground floor.
This event will be live streamed and recorded. You will not be identifiable on camera.
There will be an oportunity to ask the speakers questions at the end of the talk
Is there a waitlist for tickets to the in-person talk?
Autograph's events are popular, and in-person tickets are sold out. We do not have a waitlist. However, you can still join us online for the free livestream of the event.
Will tickets be available on the door?
This event takes place in the exhibition and has a very limited capacity. Tickets will not be available on the door. All attendees will need to have booked a ticket in advance to join us.
Will there be a recording of the event?
Unfortunately, we are no longer able to post a recording of the event.
Autograph's events are popular, and often sell out. If you need to cancel your ticket for any reason, you can receive a refund up to 24 hours before the start of the event. You do not need to bring your paper ticket to the event.
Ernest Cole: A Lens in Exile is realised in collaboration with Magnum Photos and the Ernest Cole Family Trust.
Curated by Mark Sealy.
Banner image: Ernest Cole, Harlem, New York, c. 1969 [detail]. © Ernest Cole / Magnum Photos
Images on page: 1) Ernest Cole, Harlem, New York, c. 1970 [detail]. © Ernest Cole / Magnum Photos 2) Raoul Peck. Photograph by Mathew Avignone. 3) Mark Sealy, courtesy of Steve Pyke. 4) Autograph, London. Photograph by Zoë Maxwell.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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