History has seen numerous fascinating features highlighting photographers: Martin Parr. It could be the film medium truly excels when displaying remarkably striking photographs. Today we have one more outstanding instance, directed by writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, musician and social justice champion who embodied a unique artistic-political vision.
Alongside his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by photographing the Harlem models in Harlem: youthful Black women who became the transformative template for beauty, moving beyond conventional beauty standards and the established Eurocentric standard of femininity.
The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan
The iconic phrase evolved into a powerful call to action, an brilliant concise declaration for transformation. Merely declaring that African Americans possessed beauty became a liberating force in culture, activism and culture. The artist became part of the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by photographing the legendary boxer prior to his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in that era.
He was appointed the official visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's African tour, and eventually assumed the role of the house photographer for the legendary cultural institution, assembling an extraordinary archive of black musicians. Together with his sibling, he became the key organizer behind securing the South African leader to speak in New York.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring his namesake recounts the personal campaign to ensure appropriate credit for his family heritage after he was unjustly ignored in Washington DC's National Museum of African American History and Culture, inaugurated by the political leader in this century.
The film also recounts the inexpressibly painful origin of the photographer's interest in image making: the disturbing pictures of the lynching martyr, the young Black murder victim whose mourning family member courageously demanded an uncovered casket so the brutal truth of bigoted brutality might not be concealed.
From Tragedy to Beauty
Through this image of tragedy, Brathwaite found a form of anti-epiphany that directed him toward photographs of community. His work beautifully expressed community pride and typically subtle in messaging: he developed a innovative visual language of empowerment around which social causes could gather.
It is an exhilarating testament of creative genius that still resonate through the years.
