There have been countless engaging films highlighting photographers: Martin Parr. Maybe the film medium truly excels when displaying particularly vivid visual compositions. Today comes a new outstanding example, directed by creator Yemi Bamiro, chronicling the extraordinary career of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, artist and civil rights advocate who exemplified a unique politico-aesthetic vision.
Alongside his family member Elombe, he virtually invented the slogan “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the mid-century era by documenting the Grandassa Models in New York: emerging women of color who emerged as the transformative standard for visual appeal, rejecting conventional grooming practices and the established Caucasian ideal of femininity.
The Influence of a Simple Phrase
The iconic phrase became a powerful call to action, an visionary concise declaration for transformation. Simply declaring that people of color were beautiful proved to be a liberating power in art, politics and the arts. Brathwaite grew into a key figure in the civil rights pan-Africanist movement by capturing images of the sports icon leading up to his historic championship fight in that era.
He became the official visual documentarian for the band's African tour, and eventually was named the house photographer for the iconic cultural institution, building an amazing archive of black musicians. In collaboration with his sibling, he became the driving force behind securing the anti-apartheid icon to speak in the community.
Personal Journey
His son the younger Brathwaite recounts the family's mission to achieve due acknowledgment for his father's legacy after he was hurtfully excluded in Washington DC's cultural museum, opened by Barack Obama in 2016.
The film also recounts the inexpressibly painful inspiration of Brathwaite's dedication to visual storytelling: the disturbing photographs of Emmett Till, the teenage African American tragic figure whose bereaved parent courageously insisted on an uncovered casket so the violent nature of bigoted brutality could not be covered up.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
From this representation of violence, Brathwaite encountered a kind of profound understanding that led him toward images of community. His work powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and often nuanced in approach: he curated a new symbolic representation of strength around which social causes could gather.
This represents an inspiring testament of artistic vision that continues to empower decades later.
