Under apartheid, the system of racial segregation that shaped South African society from 1928 until 1994, photographer Ernest Cole was able to change his classification from “black” to “colored.”
The story of Ernest Cole, a black photographer in South Africa during apartheid
Cite this page as: SFMOMA, "The story of Ernest Cole, a black photographer in South Africa during apartheid," in Smarthistory, October 7, 2021, accessed March 24, 2025, https://smarthistory.org/ernest-cole-photographer-apartheid/.