Eight years ago, in 2017, a significant discovery was made: over 60,000 photographs by Ernest Cole were found locked away in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. After decades of being presumed lost, this treasure trove of visual testimony—Cole’s life’s work—had resurfaced. But instead of honoring this moment with justice, transparency, and restitution, two powerful institutions—the SEB Bank and the Hasselblad Foundation—chose exploitation and obstruction.
Let’s start with SEB Bank. The materials were stored in what was believed to be a private safe deposit box. However, the bank is now refusing to provide clarity to Ernest Cole’s estate regarding how the photographs ended up in their possession and under what authority they remain there. This raises an alarming question: Since when does a bank assume ownership of a client’s safe deposit contents? That’s not banking. That’s theft. That’s exploitation. And it sets a dangerous precedent.
If this is the standard operating procedure for Swedish banks, let this be a warning to the world—not even your private property is safe behind their vaults. I wouldn’t place a comic book in one of their deposit boxes, let alone a work of historical and cultural significance.
Now, enter the Hasselblad Foundation—a globally respected institution in photography, which currently holds 504 vintage Ernest Cole prints and claims ownership. Their defense? It’s up to Cole’s family to prove that the prints belong to them.
Let me be very clear: that is not law—it’s legalized looting.
Ernest Cole didn’t donate those photographs. There’s no documentation that he signed them over. There’s no will, no contract, no agreement giving the Hasselblad Foundation standing over his intellectual property. And yet, they’re holding on to these images as if they belong to them. That’s not preservation. That’s profiteering.
They’ve likely made money, garnered prestige, and hosted exhibitions based on these prints—all while denying the rightful heirs of Ernest Cole their legacy and rightful revenue. This is not just an injustice. It is an echo of the very apartheid system Cole fought against. And the foundation’s posture is clear: delay, deflect, and outlast the estate by exhausting its resources.
In 2017, they had the audacity to claim it was the family’s responsibility to prove ownership. And now, in 2025, after public pressure from the film Lost and Found and media scrutiny, the foundation has “agreed” to discuss “repatriating” these materials to South Africa.
Repatriation? To who? The same government that exiled Cole and banned his book? Ernest Cole was unable to return to South Africa during his lifetime. And now, these institutions want to dress up their power play as a charitable gesture of goodwill?
No. This is not repatriation. It’s re-colonization.
And the timing of this entire situation couldn’t be more ironic. Right now, the South African government is pursuing land reform, attempting to correct centuries of white-minority land theft. In response, some white South Africans are crying “reverse apartheid,” and the Trump administration is giving them refugee status. Fifty-nine have already been approved. Eight thousand more applications are in process. This is while Black South Africans are still fighting to reclaim land, wealth, and dignity stripped from them for generations.
There is no moral equivalency here. None.
It is racist. It is hypocritical. And it is yet another example of how Black people—our lives, our history, and our work—are exploited while others are protected, enriched, and enabled.
The SEB Bank and the Hasselblad Foundation have had eight years to do the right thing. They chose to wait. To withhold. To watch Ernest Cole’s name grow in prestige while denying his family the power to shape that legacy. And now, only because the world is watching, are they pretending to “consider” doing what they should have done from the start.
I hope the Cole estate sues them. Not just for the return of the photographs and prints, but for punitive damages. For theft. For emotional and economic harm.
Because this isn’t just about one man’s work, this is about every artist, every dissident, every Black visionary who dared to speak the truth—and whose legacy was stolen in silence.
Thank you for reading this blog. I appreciate your continued support in raising awareness about the issues that most impact our communities. Please share this blog—and explore my other articles and videos—each one created to educate, empower, and uplift. Together, we can challenge the systems that hold us back and push forward policies that open the doors to opportunity for all.
Eric Lawrence Frazier, MBA
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