ERNEST COLE AWARD
Dale Yudelman is the first winner of the newly established Ernest Cole Award for photography in South Africa. On the 30 June the adjudication committee chose his project – “From the Hip”, from a final selection of five entries.
Yudelman describes his project as being “Inspired by the Ernest Cole exhibition I saw in February this year, which documented life under apartheid. My series looks at life ‘under democracy’ and consists of vibrant daily reflections; shot in passing, with the simple motivation of noticing what is.”
“The aim is to deliver an account accurate and vivid as any documentary anthology of contemporary life and the way in which ordinary citizens experience their current social and political circumstances.”
There were sixty-seven entries for the inaugural annual award, from which five finalists were chosen. Four honorable mentions were awarded to: Jabulani Dhlamini, Marc Shoul, Graeme Williams, and Thabiso Sekgala.
Dhlamini’s project “Amawele “(The Twins) beautifully reveals the specific uniqueness of each identical twin, despite their immediate aesthetic similarities.
Shoul’s ongoing project humorously and sensitively captures small town Brakpan inhabitants living their lives in contemporary South Africa.
Williams’ “Painting over the Present” focuses on the interiors and exteriors of poverty stricken people’s homes. He says that, “It has been surprising to find that although the areas differ in many ways, there are almost always individual s who seemingly refuse to be subsumed into the starkness that surrounds them.”
In “Homeland”, Sekgala explores the complexity of people’s relationships with the former ‘homelands’ of apartheid South Africa.
The award, managed by UCT Libraries, will enable Yudelman to complete his project, culminating in an exhibition and the publishing of a book, by Jacana, next year.
View the images
Ernest Cole Site
