We have witnessed many engaging documentaries about photographers: Vivian Maier. Maybe the film medium particularly shines when displaying particularly vivid still images. Today we have one more exceptional instance, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, exploring the impressive career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and African American activist who exemplified a special artistic-political perspective.
Together with his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the 1960s by capturing the Harlem models in the cultural epicenter: emerging African American women who became the groundbreaking standard for beauty, moving beyond typical beauty standards and the usual white ideal of womanhood.
The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan
The iconic phrase transformed into a transformative unifying message, an inspired three-word declaration for progress. Merely to assert that people of color radiated beauty proved to be a transformative influence in culture, politics and creative expression. The photographer became integral to the social justice pan-Africanist movement by photographing the legendary boxer leading up to his legendary Rumble in the Jungle in 1974.
He was appointed the primary image creator for the musical group's continental journey, and eventually assumed the role of the house photographer for the legendary Harlem venue, creating an amazing archive of African American artists. In collaboration with Elombe, he was the central figure behind arranging for the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in the community.
Family Legacy
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite shares the their campaign to ensure proper recognition for his parent's achievements after he was painfully ignored in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, opened by Barack Obama in recent years.
This documentary additionally explores the deeply tragic genesis of Brathwaite's dedication to image making: the horrendous images of the young victim, the adolescent civil rights murder victim whose grieving mother defiantly insisted on an public viewing so the horrific reality of racial hatred might not be hidden.
From Tragedy to Hope
From this vision of horror, the artist encountered a form of profound understanding that directed him toward photographs of beauty. His photographs beautifully expressed empowering beauty and often subtle in messaging: he curated a new iconography of strength through which political movements could gather.
This represents an exhilarating record of cultural impact that still empower through the years.
