There have been many engaging documentaries focusing on photographers: Martin Parr. Maybe the film medium particularly shines when presenting exceptionally powerful visual compositions. Today comes a new outstanding instance, from writer-director Yemi Bamiro, documenting the remarkable career of Kwame Brathwaite—a photographer, artist and social justice champion who embodied a unique artistic-political perspective.
Together with his brother Elombe, he effectively created the expression “Black Is Beautiful” in the mid-century era by documenting the Grandassa Models in the cultural epicenter: emerging women of color who transformed into the sensational template for visual appeal, rejecting traditional beauty standards and the predominant Caucasian model of femininity.
The Influence of Three Words
Black Is Beautiful transformed into a radical call to action, an inspired memorable manifesto for progress. Simply to assert that people of color possessed beauty emerged as a empowering influence in society, activism and culture. The artist became a key figure in the civil rights pan-Africanist struggle by documenting the legendary boxer prior to his historic Zaire bout in 1974.
He served as the exclusive photographer for the band's continental journey, and subsequently became the official visual chronicler for the legendary Harlem venue, building an extraordinary collection of African American artists. In collaboration with his brother, he was the central figure behind bringing the South African leader to address the public in Harlem.
Historical Recognition
His son the younger Brathwaite recounts the their campaign to secure due acknowledgment for his family heritage after he was hurtfully excluded in the nation's capital's Smithsonian institution, established by Barack Obama in this century.
The film further reveals the inexpressibly painful inspiration of the photographer's dedication to image making: the horrendous photographs of Emmett Till, the teenage Black tragic figure whose mourning family member defiantly requested an public viewing so the horrific reality of racial hatred would not be hidden.
From Tragedy to Empowerment
In this image of horror, the visionary encountered a type of profound understanding that directed him toward images of beauty. His photographs were eloquent of community pride and frequently not overtly political: he established a new symbolic representation of empowerment through which social causes could gather.
This represents an captivating record of artistic vision that persists in resonate decades later.
