We have witnessed many compelling features focusing on photographers: Martin Parr. It could be the film medium truly excels when showcasing exceptionally powerful still images. Here arrives one more remarkable case, by creator Yemi Bamiro, documenting the impressive professional journey of Kwame Brathwaite—a creative force, artist and African American activist who embodied a distinct artistic-political perspective.
Alongside his sibling Elombe, he effectively created the expression “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the sixties by photographing the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who became the transformative template for beauty, rejecting conventional grooming practices and the established white standard of female beauty.
The Power of Three Words
The iconic phrase transformed into a powerful call to action, an visionary three-word declaration for change. Just stating that people of color possessed beauty proved to be a empowering influence in art, politics and creative expression. The photographer became part of the Black power pan-Africanist struggle by documenting the sports icon before his historic Zaire bout in that era.
He served as the official photographer for the band's African tour, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the historic cultural institution, building an incredible archive of musical pioneers. Together with his brother, he was the key organizer behind bringing Nelson Mandela to address the public in New York.
Family Legacy
The photographer's offspring the younger Brathwaite recounts the family's quest to secure proper recognition for his family heritage after he was hurtfully ignored in the nation's capital's cultural museum, opened by the former president in this century.
This documentary also recounts the inexpressibly painful origin of the photographer's passion for photography: the horrendous images of the lynching martyr, the teenage civil rights tragic figure whose grieving mother boldly demanded an uncovered casket so the violent nature of racial hatred might not be hidden.
From Tragedy to Beauty
From this image of violence, Brathwaite encountered a kind of profound understanding that directed him toward visual representations of beauty. His images powerfully conveyed empowering beauty and typically nuanced in approach: he developed a new visual language of pride upon which political movements could mobilize.
This represents an exhilarating record of artistic vision that still resonate decades later.
