A new award in photography in South Africa has been initiated under the auspices of the University of Cape Town, offering a unique opportunity for photographers to complete an existing project. The award, named after documentary photographer Ernest Cole, has been made possible by the generous support of the Peter Brown, Gavin Relly Educational and Kirsh Family Trusts. The winning photographer will receive R150 000.

The Ernest Cole Photography Award has been established to stimulate creative work in photography in South Africa. The emphasis will be on creative responses to South African society.
Ernest Cole was born in South Africa in 1940 and received his first camera as a gift from a clergyman. Before leaving South Africa in the mid 1960s he worked as a photojournalist for Drum magazine, sharing a darkroom and friendship with photographer Struan Robertson. On his own initiative Cole undertook a comprehensive photographic essay in which he showed what it meant to be black under apartheid. Out of this came the book, The House of Bondage, which was published in New York in 1967 and immediately banned in South Africa.
Cole was a courageous documentarian who at times risked his life to share his imagery with the world. "He wasn't just brave. He wasn't just enterprising. He was a supremely fine photographer," said David Goldblatt. He never returned to South Africa and died in exile in New York in 1990. A significant body of his prints found its way to the Hasselblad Foundation in Sweden. Under the auspices of the Foundation a book, Ernest Cole Photographer, about Cole, his life and work was published in 2010. An exhibition of these prints, many of them made by Cole himself, is now touring museums in South Africa. The exhibition will then go to Sweden and the United States.

The Award

The Award is open to anyone whose work focuses on South African society, with preference being given to people living within the country. The purpose of the Award is to support the realisation of a significant body of work that the photographer has been engaged with.

Proposal:

Applicants should submit the following:
1. a written proposal (3 pages maximum) that concisely and clearly explains the project,
2. a brief biography highlighting photographic experience and work done
3. 20 to 40 images in support of the project for which the application is being made. These should be jpegs files 4x5 inches, resolution 300 dpi on a CD or DVD (please follow specifications below - Preparation of Images and CD preparation).

Selection

A panel of judges convened by the University will select the award-winning applicant.
Preparation of Images:
Applicants should name the files with your first and last names and use an underscore to separate the names. At the end of the file name add a sequence number starting with: 01.
Example:
Firstname_Surname01.jpg,
Firstname_Surname02.jpg,
Firstname_Surname03.jpg

CD preparation:

Place all your files in one folder. Name the folder with your first and last names and use an underscore to separate your name and burn to CD or DVD.

Closing date for submissions: 17 June 2011

Contact

Information regarding Ernest Family Trust please contact:
Otsile Ntsoane
omphile.ra@gmail.com
079 492 1302

Submit applications and images to:
Ernest Cole Award

Postal Address

Private Bag X18/171
Rondebosch 7701
South Africa

or Courier
Postnet Rondebosch
Shop 35
Riverside Mall
Main Road
Rondebosch 7700
Cape Town