There have been numerous engaging features focusing on photographers: Vivian Maier. It could be cinematic storytelling particularly shines when presenting remarkably striking still images. Today we have another remarkable case, by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, musician and civil rights advocate who represented a unique cultural-activist approach.
In partnership with his sibling Elombe, he pioneered the expression “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by photographing the Harlem models in Harlem: young Black women who became the groundbreaking standard for visual appeal, moving beyond conventional cosmetic products and the predominant white standard of womanhood.
The Power of Three Words
The iconic phrase evolved into a radical unifying message, an inspired three-word manifesto for change. Merely to assert that African Americans were beautiful emerged as a empowering power in art, social movements and culture. The artist became part of the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by documenting the legendary boxer before his legendary championship fight in 1974.
He was appointed the official photographer for the Jackson 5's African tour, and later became the official visual chronicler for the historic Apollo theatre, building an extraordinary collection of black musicians. In collaboration with his sibling, he became the driving force behind bringing Nelson Mandela to appear in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
His son Kwame Jr recounts the personal quest to achieve due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was painfully excluded in Washington DC's Smithsonian institution, established by the former president in this century.
The film further reveals the inexpressibly painful inspiration of Brathwaite's passion for image making: the disturbing photographs of Emmett Till, the adolescent African American tragic figure whose grieving mother defiantly requested an open coffin so the horrific reality of racist violence might not be covered up.
Through Darkness to Hope
From this representation of tragedy, Brathwaite encountered a type of transformative realization that led him toward photographs of community. His images powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and often not overtly political: he established a fresh symbolic representation of empowerment through which political movements could gather.
It is an captivating chronicle of creative genius that still empower through the years.
