"The True America" is the first stateside exhibition to focus on the photographs made in America by renowned South African photographer Ernest Cole. After fleeing South Africa to publish his landmark book House of Bondage in 1967 (reissued by Aperture in 2022) on the horrors of apartheid, Ernest Cole became a “banned person” and resettled in New York. He photographed the city’s streets extensively, chronicling daily life in Harlem and around Manhattan. In 1968 he traveled across the country to places including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Memphis, Atlanta, and Washington, DC, as well as to rural areas of the South, capturing the activism and emotional tenor in the months leading up to and just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
This exhibition is curated by the amazing Leslie M. Wilson and includes over 100 previously unpublished images redefining the scope of Cole’s work and sharing a new window into American society through his incisive eye. As Wilson says, it has been a true revelation for her to spend time with these images long thought lost and to better understand the broad scope of Cole's life in New York and his extensive travels. This work puts important and needed pressure on existing frameworks and understandings of "street photography" as well as the "road trip" tradition. And it also encourages viewers to think about the diversity of visions for Black liberation during the Civil Rights era--the possibilities and the limits of solidarities.
Organized by Aperture and the Ernest Cole Family Trust. Curated by Leslie M. Wilson, PhD. This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. All images © Ernest Cole Family Trust.
Location: Meyerhoff Gallery (Fox Building, Floor 1)
On View: November 8- December 15, 2025
Reception: Thursday, December 4th, 5:00-7:00pm
Campus Gallery Hours:
Open to the public Monday - Sunday, 10AM - 5PM. Outside visitors can enter galleries after signing in at the front desk of the respective building. PLEASE NOTE: On weekends outside visitors will need to be accompanied by a 足球游戏_中国足彩网￥体育资讯 community member with a 足球游戏_中国足彩网￥体育资讯 ID in order to swipe and gain access into respective buildings.