Kwame Brathwaite

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Kwame Brathwaite
Born1938
Brooklyn, New York, USA
OccupationPhotojournalist
Years active1950s–present
Known forDocumentary photojournalism
Websitehttps://www.kwamebrathwaite.com/about

Kwame Brathwaite (born 1938) is an American photojournalist known for documenting life and culture in Harlem and Africa.[1]

Life and work[]

Kwame Brathwaite is a documentary photojournalist, born and brought up in New York City, to immigrant parents from Barbados,[2] who chronicled the cultural, political, and social developments of Harlem, Africa, and the African dispora.[3] With his older brother Elombe Brath, Brathwaite founded the in 1956[4] and Grandassa Models in 1962.[5][6]As a boy in the early 1950s he was enrolled School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design).[7]

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.[5] The 1962 pageant has the title The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride & Standards.[8][9] 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.[10][11][12] The Naturally pageants ran for five years, with the last one held in 1966.[9]

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,[13] and Muhammad Ali.[14]

In 2017, Brathwaite was honored at the 75th Aperture Gala.[15]

Exhibitions[]

  • 2019 Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, organized by Aperture Foundation[16]
  • 2019 Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas[17]
  • 2020 Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas[18]

References[]

  1. ^ Williams, Lloyd A., Voza Rivers (2006). Forever Harlem: celebrating America's most diverse community. Champaign, Ill.: Sports Pub. ISBN 9781596702066. OCLC 74964311.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  2. ^ Bradley, Adam (17 June 2021). "The Photographer Who Captured the Beauty in Blackness". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Boyd, Herb (1 May 2003). "New York Amsterdam News".
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Nnadi, Chioma (February 3, 2018). "How One Photographer Captured the Soul of the 'Black Is Beautiful' Movement". Vogue. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Bradley, Adam (17 June 2021). "The Photographer Who Captured the Beauty in Blackness". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "The Grandassa Models, Naturally". PDN Photo of the Day. May 20, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  9. ^ Jump up to: 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.
  10. ^ Laneri, Raquel (February 6, 2018). "How a Harlem fashion show started the 'Black is Beautiful' movement". New York Post.
  11. ^ Famighetti, Michael (August 30, 2017). Elements of Style. Aperture. ISBN 978-1-59711-420-2.
  12. ^ Steele, Valerie (2005). Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-31395-5.
  13. ^ "Artist talk celebrates musical superstars". New York Amsterdam News. April 12, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Elements Of Style, Aperture Gala 2017". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  17. ^ "Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography". The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  18. ^ "Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism – Houston Center for Photography". Retrieved 2020-06-13.
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