Ernest Cole

Magnum Square Print: Ernest Cole

Sale launches Monday, March 23, 09:00 a.m. EDT.
Description

South Africa, 1960s.


“‘Train surfing’ seems to have originated in colonial India and was primarily caused by poverty — beating the fare — and overloaded trains. In apartheid South Africa, it came from the same source but was slow to surface, perhaps because of the rigidity of the railway police. In the 1980s and 1990s, train surfing took the form of an ‘extreme sport’, reaching a peak of familiarity as policing retreated into neglect. Like Odysseus strapped to the mainmast in order to resist the lure of the Sirens, or Knut Hamsun riding on the roof of a train carriage between Minnesota and New York in order to expunge the tuberculosis from his lungs, train surfing merges a journey into the unknown with a physical trial of extraordinary risk and absolute danger.

“Ernest Cole’s images of train surfers are perhaps the first example of this visual trope in the canon of South African photography. To see how train surfing developed from a necessity in the overpacked trains of the 1960s to a gladiatorial contest of masculinity, see Sara Blecher and Dimi Raphoto’s short film, Surfing Soweto (2007), available on YouTube. Cole, as usual, had captured the origins of a genuine cultural collision.”

— James Sanders, the Ernest Cole Family Trust

© Ernest Cole / Magnum Photos


This print is estate-stamped on an archival label to ensure quality and preservation, which is affixed to the back of the print.

The edition is available for purchase between:

Monday, March 23, 09:00 a.m. EDT
to Sunday, March 29, 11:59 p.m. EDT
All Magnum Square Prints come with a choice of three framing options: our standard custom wooden frame in black or white, or a new premium walnut frame.

Our premium walnut frames feature plexiglass on both sides, showcasing the signature label via a cutout on the rear. All of these contemporary custom frames are hand-crafted by expert framers.
In partnership with The Photographers' Gallery

Square Print Sale: Odyssey

Magnum Photos partners with The Photographers’ Gallery for the March 2026 Square Print Sale, Odyssey. Odyssey is more than a journey — it is a search for meaning, a crossing of thresholds, a story of growth and resilience. It is the pull of the unknown: the road ahead, the distance behind, the moments that change us along the way.


Spanning continents and decades, Odyssey traces both physical and emotional paths, from epic migrations to quiet reckonings of the self. Moving through borders, memory, and time, the collection reflects the enduring power of photography to bear witness, to connect personal stories with larger histories, and to illuminate the journeys that shape who we are, and what we come to understand.


Over 100 signed or estate-stamped, museum-quality 6x6” prints will be available online for one week, priced from $110/£110/€120.

The Odyssey Square Print Sale runs Monday, March 23 at 9 a.m. ET and ends Sunday, March 29 at 11:59 p.m.

BROWSE THE FULL COLLECTION