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Kwame Brathwaite

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Kwame Brathwaite
Born(1938-01-01)January 1, 1938
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedApril 1, 2023(2023-04-01) (aged 85)
Occupation(s)Photojournalist, activist
Years active1950s–2023
Known forDocumentary photojournalism
RelativesElombe Brath (brother), John Edward Brathwaite (brother)
Websitekwamebrathwaite.com

Kwame Brathwaite (1 January 1938 – 1 April 2023) was an American photojournalist and activist known for popularizing the phrase "Black is Beautiful" and documenting life and culture in Harlem and Africa.[1]

Life and work

Kwame Brathwaite was born on 1 January 1938,[2] and brought up in New York City, to immigrant parents from Barbados,[3] who chronicled the cultural, political, and social developments of Harlem, Africa, and the African diaspora.[4] As a boy in the early 1950s, he was enrolled at School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design).[3]

With his older brother Elombe Brath, Brathwaite founded the African Jazz Art Society and Studios in 1956[5] and Grandassa Models in 1962.[6][7]

Brathwaite died on 1 April 2023, at the age of 85.[8]

Naturally pageants

On January 28, 1962, with his brother Elombe Brath, Brathwaite staged the Naturally '62 pageant, the first of a series of pageants to feature only black models.[6] The 1962 pageant has the title The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride & Standards.[9][10] Held at the Harlem Purple Manor, a nightclub on East 125th Street, it helped to popularize the phrase "Black Is Beautiful" that was printed on the pageant's poster.[11][12][13] The Naturally pageants ran for five years, with the last one held in 1966.[10]

In the 1960s, his work also appeared in New York Amsterdam News, The City Sun, and The Daily Challenge. He photographed concerts of Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, James Brown,[14] and Muhammad Ali.[15]

In 2017, Brathwaite was honored at the 75th Aperture Gala.[16]

Exhibitions

  • Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, organized by Aperture Foundation (2019)[17]
  • Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2019)[18]
  • Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism, Houston Center for Photography (2020)[19]
  • The Struggle Continues, Victory is Certain, Philip Martin Gallery (2020)[20]
  • Facing Forward: Photographic Portraits from the Collection, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (2021)[21]
  • Changing Times, Philip Martin Gallery (2021)[22]
  • My Village/New York, Philip Martin Gallery (2022)[23]

References

  1. ^ Forever Harlem: celebrating America's most diverse community. Champaign, Ill.: Sports Pub. 2006. ISBN 9781596702066. OCLC 74964311. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Oransky, Howard (13 September 2022). A Picture Gallery of the Soul. Univ of California Press. p. 76. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b Bradley, Adam (17 June 2021). "The Photographer Who Captured the Beauty in Blackness". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Boyd, Herb (1 May 2003). "New York Amsterdam News".
  5. ^ Bohnacker, Siobhán (March 30, 2018). "An Artist's Ornate Natural Hair Styles, Through the Eyes of a Legendary Photographer of Black Beauty". The New Yorker.
  6. ^ a b Nnadi, Chioma (February 3, 2018). "How One Photographer Captured the Soul of the 'Black Is Beautiful' Movement". Vogue. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  7. ^ "Founding members of AJASS (African Jazz-Art Society & Studios), and the Grandassa Models, posing in front of a collection of posters from some of their organized events. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library". Schomburg Center.
  8. ^ Greenberger, Alex (3 April 2023). "Kwame Brathwaite, Influential Photographer Who Proclaimed 'Black Is Beautiful,' Dies at 85". ARTnews. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  9. ^ "The Grandassa Models, Naturally". PDN Photo of the Day. May 20, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Wills, David (October 3, 2017). Switched On: Women Who Revolutionized Style in the 60's. Simon and Schuster. pp. 36–. ISBN 978-1-68188-261-1.
  11. ^ Laneri, Raquel (February 6, 2018). "How a Harlem fashion show started the 'Black is Beautiful' movement". New York Post.
  12. ^ Famighetti, Michael (August 30, 2017). Elements of Style. Aperture. ISBN 978-1-59711-420-2.
  13. ^ Steele, Valerie (2005). Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-31395-5.
  14. ^ "Artist talk celebrates musical superstars". New York Amsterdam News. April 12, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  15. ^ Oates, Joyce Carol (November 28, 2017). "Muhammad Ali, Beginning to End for the First Time in a Book". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "Elements Of Style, Aperture Gala 2017". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  17. ^ "Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  18. ^ "Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography". The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  19. ^ "Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism – Houston Center for Photography". Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  20. ^ "Kwame Brathwaite: The Struggle Continues, Victory is Certain". Philip Martin Gallery.
  21. ^ "Facing Forward: Photographic Portraits from the Collection". Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
  22. ^ "Changing Times". Philip Martin Gallery.
  23. ^ "My Village/New York". Philip Martin Gallery.
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