Society

House of Bondage Revisited

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"We sleep anywhere, " a boy told me, "in drainpipes, parks, anywehere." At dawn I found them lying in a park, shivering.
Above and below: book layouts from 'House of Bondage', first edition, published by Random House, 1967.
Section of Rand Leases mine compound, outside Johannesburg, where African miners live while on contract. No families or women are allowed.
Africans throng Johannesburg station platform during late afternoon rush hour.
With older children in school and mothers at work, baby baby-minders are a common sight on African township streets.
During group medical examination, the nude men are herded through a string of doctors’ offices.
Earnest boy squats on haunches and strains to follow lesson in heat of packed classroom.
Doornfontein railway station in rush hour. This picture shows the reality of apartheid without the need for any words. South Africa, 1960s. All images from South Africa, 1960s © Ernest Cole/Magnum (...)
At end of ride comes a big squeeze as passengers must show their tickets before passing through narrow exit gates. As they wait, more trains pull in and unload. For many, the delay lasts twenty-fiv (...)
Above and below, photographs from a collection of images from the chapter entitled 'Black Ingenuity.'
Miss Non-White South Africa contest. At microphone is Pete Rezant, director of many social events for Africans. He teaches contestants how to walk, talk, conduct themselves in Western society.
Entertaining friends is done outside garden walls, since employers do not want strange 'boys' and 'girls' on their premises.
Rented car is status symbol at middle-class marriage. Expensive wedding can leave couple broke for a year.
Children learning to write hardly have elbow room to mark their slates.
Pass raid outside Johannesburg station. Every African must show his pass before being allowed to go about his business.
Mamelodi. Typical location has acres of identical four-room houses on nameless streets. Many are hours by train from city jobs.