There have been numerous engaging features highlighting image makers: Martin Parr. Maybe cinematic storytelling truly excels when displaying exceptionally powerful visual compositions. Today comes another exceptional example, by creator Yemi Bamiro, documenting the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, artist and African American activist who embodied a special politico-aesthetic approach.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he effectively created the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by photographing the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: youthful women of color who transformed into the sensational archetype for visual appeal, abandoning conventional cosmetic products and the predominant Caucasian ideal of womanhood.
The Power of a Revolutionary Slogan
Black Is Beautiful became a radical unifying message, an visionary memorable manifesto for progress. Merely declaring that African Americans possessed beauty emerged as a transformative power in culture, social movements and creative expression. Brathwaite emerged as a key figure in the social justice pan-Africanist struggle by capturing images of the legendary boxer before his iconic Rumble in the Jungle in the seventies.
He became the primary photographer for the band's international performances, and eventually became the house photographer for the iconic Apollo theatre, building an incredible collection of black musicians. Together with his sibling, he became the driving force behind securing Nelson Mandela to appear in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite shares the personal mission to ensure appropriate credit for his family heritage after he was hurtfully ignored in the prestigious National Museum of African American History and Culture, inaugurated by Barack Obama in 2016.
The film further reveals the inexpressibly painful inspiration of the photographer's dedication to photography: the shocking photographs of the lynching martyr, the young civil rights tragic figure whose grieving mother courageously requested an open coffin so the brutal truth of racist violence would not be hidden.
Through Darkness to Beauty
From this image of horror, the artist discovered a form of transformative realization that led him toward visual representations of beauty. His photographs were eloquent of celebratory strength and typically nuanced in approach: he developed a innovative symbolic representation of strength through which social causes could unite.
The documentary stands as an captivating testament of creative genius that persists in resonate across generations.
