History has seen many engaging films about visual artists: Martin Parr. Perhaps the film medium particularly shines when displaying particularly vivid photographs. Here we have another outstanding instance, by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the remarkable life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and civil rights advocate who represented a unique politico-aesthetic perspective.
In partnership with his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the mid-century era by documenting the Grandassa Models in New York: emerging African American women who became the transformative standard for visual appeal, abandoning typical beauty standards and the predominant Caucasian standard of womanhood.
The Power of a Simple Phrase
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a radical unifying message, an visionary concise manifesto for change. Just stating that African Americans radiated beauty proved to be a empowering influence in society, social movements and the arts. Brathwaite grew into part of the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by photographing Muhammad Ali before his iconic championship fight in 1974.
He served as the exclusive photographer for the band's continental journey, and eventually was named the official visual chronicler for the legendary Apollo theatre, building an amazing portfolio of African American artists. Together with his sibling, he emerged as the central figure behind arranging for the South African leader to speak in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr shares the personal mission to achieve due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was painfully ignored in Washington DC's cultural museum, inaugurated by Barack Obama in this century.
The feature further reveals the deeply tragic inspiration of Brathwaite's interest in photography: the horrendous images of Emmett Till, the teenage Black murder victim whose mourning family member boldly insisted on an open coffin so the horrific reality of bigoted brutality could not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Empowerment
Through this representation of tragedy, the artist discovered a form of transformative realization that guided him toward photographs of community. His work beautifully expressed community pride and frequently not overtly political: he curated a fresh iconography of empowerment through which activist groups could unite.
It is an inspiring testament of cultural impact that continues to resonate decades later.
