History has seen numerous compelling films about photographers: Tish Murtha. Maybe the film medium truly excels when showcasing remarkably striking visual compositions. Today we have another outstanding instance, by creator Yemi Bamiro, exploring the impressive life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, musician and civil rights advocate who embodied a distinct cultural-activist approach.
Together with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the phrase “Black Is Beautiful” in the mid-century era by documenting the Harlem models in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who became the transformative archetype for aesthetics, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the established Eurocentric standard of womanhood.
The Influence of a Simple Phrase
This powerful statement became a transformative call to action, an visionary concise manifesto for change. Merely to assert that black people radiated beauty emerged as a liberating force in art, activism and creative expression. Brathwaite became part of the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by capturing images of Muhammad Ali prior to his iconic Zaire bout in the seventies.
He served as the primary image creator for the band's continental journey, and subsequently was named the official visual chronicler for the iconic Harlem venue, creating an amazing archive of African American artists. In collaboration with Elombe, he was the key organizer behind securing the anti-apartheid icon to address the public in Harlem.
Personal Journey
The photographer's offspring Kwame Jr is interviewed the family's quest to achieve proper recognition for his family heritage after he was unjustly ignored in the prestigious Smithsonian institution, established by the political leader in recent years.
The film further reveals the inexpressibly painful genesis of the photographer's passion for photography: the disturbing images of the young victim, the adolescent Black tragic figure whose grieving mother courageously demanded an open coffin so the brutal truth of racist violence could not be hidden.
Amidst Sorrow to Hope
From this image of horror, Brathwaite encountered a kind of transformative realization that guided him toward visual representations of community. His photographs powerfully conveyed celebratory strength and often not overtly political: he established a new symbolic representation of empowerment upon which social causes could unite.
The documentary stands as an captivating record of artistic vision that continues to empower decades later.
