We have witnessed many compelling features focusing on photographers: Martin Parr. Maybe the documentary format particularly shines when displaying particularly vivid photographs. Now we have one more remarkable case, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the impressive professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, musician and African American activist who embodied a distinct politico-aesthetic perspective.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” in the sixties by photographing the African American women in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who became the sensational template for aesthetics, abandoning conventional cosmetic products and the usual white ideal of female beauty.
The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan
This powerful statement became a powerful rallying cry, an inspired three-word declaration for transformation. Just declaring that black people possessed beauty proved to be a transformative power in society, activism and creative expression. The photographer emerged as part of the social justice pan-Africanist movement by documenting the legendary boxer leading up to his iconic championship fight in that era.
He served as the exclusive visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's international performances, and eventually became the house photographer for the historic cultural institution, building an extraordinary archive of black musicians. In collaboration with Elombe, he became the key organizer behind securing the South African leader to appear in New York.
Personal Journey
The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr recounts the family's quest to ensure due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was hurtfully excluded in the nation's capital's cultural museum, opened by the former president in this century.
This documentary additionally explores the deeply tragic origin of Brathwaite's interest in photography: the horrendous photographs of the lynching martyr, the teenage African American murder victim whose mourning family member courageously insisted on an uncovered casket so the horrific reality of racial hatred might not be hidden.
From Tragedy to Empowerment
Through this representation of tragedy, the artist encountered a kind of transformative realization that directed him toward images of beauty. His images beautifully expressed empowering beauty and typically subtle in messaging: he developed a innovative symbolic representation of strength through which political movements could unite.
It is an exhilarating chronicle of cultural impact that persists in empower decades later.
