The South African photographer’s work is given new life in this documentary.
The latest documentary from Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro, Silver Dollar Road) profiles photographer/photojournalist Ernest Cole. Cole’s House of Bondage, printed in his 20s, illustrated apartheid in his home country of South Africa; the work’s impact was such that he had to flee his home and live in exile for the rest of his life. LaKeith Stanfield narrates Ernest Cole: Lost and Found as the voice of Cole, based on the artist’s writings and Peck’s adaptation. Interwoven throughout Cole’s personal story is the more curious tale of the rediscovery of his negatives and film in a Swedish safe deposit box decades after his death.
There’s a vibrant energy to the first act of this celebration of Cole and his work, as we’re introduced to the photographer and his refusal to be a “chronicler of misery and injustice.” Cole’s voice, as performed by Stanfield, is lyrical as he speaks of the photos compiled into House of Bondage. Diverse aspects of life in the country under apartheid rule are represented in his shots, from the Black miners working in an abusive system, to domestic servants who raise the children of their oppressors, to the banishment camps on the far outskirts of Johannesburg where Black activists were forced to live, separated from family and loved ones. The composition in his photos here is a marvel, especially as he speaks of having to be covert and subtle while taking street shots in Johannesburg.
The visual storytelling in Peck’s film displays a treasure trove of black and white and color photography by Cole, but the pacing starts to drag as we learn about Cole’s time in New York and Sweden, searching for a place that supported his art and felt anything like home. In this later section of the documentary, the modern day scenes of Cole’s family traveling to Sweden to recover his work provides some much needed momentum. While Ernest Cole: Lost and Found isn’t the most stylistically novel documentary released this year, Peck’s film is an informative study of the South African artist, honoring Cole’s groundbreaking photography and distinct voice.
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found is playing in select theaters nationwide.
