There have been numerous compelling films focusing on image makers: Martin Parr. It could be cinematic storytelling particularly shines when displaying remarkably striking still images. Here comes a new exceptional example, directed by filmmaker Yemi Bamiro, exploring the extraordinary life's work of Kwame Brathwaite—an artist, performer and civil rights advocate who represented a special politico-aesthetic approach.
Together with his brother Elombe, he pioneered the expression “Black Is Beautiful” throughout the 1960s by photographing the Grandassa Models in New York: youthful Black women who became the sensational standard for visual appeal, moving beyond typical cosmetic products and the established Eurocentric ideal of female beauty.
The Impact of a Revolutionary Slogan
The iconic phrase became a radical unifying message, an brilliant concise prose poem for transformation. Just to assert that African Americans possessed beauty proved to be a empowering power in culture, social movements and culture. Brathwaite emerged as part of the civil rights African diaspora movement by photographing the legendary boxer leading up to his iconic Zaire bout in that era.
He became the primary visual documentarian for the Jackson 5's continental journey, and later was named the house photographer for the legendary Apollo theatre, assembling an incredible collection of black musicians. Together with his brother, he became the central figure behind arranging for Nelson Mandela to appear in New York.
Family Legacy
Brathwaite's son his namesake recounts the their quest to ensure due acknowledgment for his parent's achievements after he was painfully ignored in the nation's capital's National Museum of African American History and Culture, opened by the political leader in 2016.
The film further reveals the deeply tragic genesis of the artist's interest in image making: the disturbing photographs of the lynching martyr, the young African American tragic figure whose bereaved parent defiantly requested an open coffin so the horrific reality of bigoted brutality could not be hidden.
Through Darkness to Empowerment
Through this vision of violence, the artist found a type of profound understanding that directed him toward photographs of beauty. His photographs beautifully expressed community pride and typically subtle in messaging: he developed a fresh symbolic representation of empowerment through which political movements could gather.
This represents an captivating testament of artistic vision that still empower across generations.
