Kwame Brathwaite
Kwame Brathwaite | |
---|---|
Born | Gilbert Ronald Brathwaite January 1, 1938 New York City, U.S. |
Died | April 1, 2023 New York City, U.S. | (aged 85)
Occupation(s) | Photojournalist, activist |
Years active | 1950s–2023 |
Known for | Documentary photojournalism |
Relatives | Elombe Brath (brother) |
Website | kwamebrathwaite |
Kwame Brathwaite (January 1, 1938 – April 1, 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
[edit]Born Gilbert Ronald Brathwaite in Brooklyn on January 1, 1938[2] and brought up in the South Bronx, to immigrant parents from Barbados,[3] who chronicled the cultural, political, and social developments of Harlem, Africa, and the African diaspora.[4] His parents were Cecil and Margaret (Maloney) Brathwaite.[5] As a boy in the early 1950s, he was enrolled at School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design). He adopted the name Kwame in the early 1960s, a tribute to Kwame Nkrumah, the first leader of post-colonial Ghana.[3][6]
With his older brother Elombe Brath, Brathwaite founded the African Jazz Art Society and Studios in 1956[7] and Grandassa Models in 1962.[8][9]
In 2021, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired "Untitled (AJASS Model on Black Background)" (1970s/2019)," portraying a female model figure dressed in patterns resembling quilts created in African American communities, such as those made at Gee's Bend, in Alabama. The artist is a major figure in the Black is Beautiful movement.[10][11]
Brathwaite died in Manhattan on April 1, 2023, at the age of 85.[12][13] He was survived by his wife Sikolo (whom he married c. 1966), his son Kwame Samori Brathwaite (known as Kwame Jr., born c. 1974), and his daughter Ndola Carlest.
Naturally pageants
[edit]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.[8] The 1962 pageant was titled The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride & Standards.[14][15] 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.[16][17][18] The Naturally pageants ran for five years, with the last one held in 1966.[15]
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,[19] and Muhammad Ali.[20]
In 2017, Brathwaite was honored at the 75th Aperture Gala.[21]
Exhibitions
[edit]- Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, organized by Aperture Foundation (2019)[22]
- Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2019)[23]
- Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism, Houston Center for Photography (2020)[24]
- The Struggle Continues, Victory is Certain, Philip Martin Gallery (2020)[25]
- Facing Forward: Photographic Portraits from the Collection, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (2021)[26]
- Changing Times, Philip Martin Gallery (2021)[27]
- My Village/New York, Philip Martin Gallery (2022)[28]
- Things Well Worth Waiting For, Art Institute of Chicago (2023).[29]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Williams, Lloyd A.; Voza Rivers (2006). Forever Harlem: celebrating America's most diverse community. Champaign, Ill.: Sports Pub. ISBN 978-1-59670-206-6. OCLC 74964311.
- ^ Oransky, Howard (September 13, 2022). A Picture Gallery of the Soul. Univ of California Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-520-38806-2. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Bradley, Adam (June 17, 2021). "The Photographer Who Captured the Beauty in Blackness". The New York Times.
- ^ Boyd, Herb (May 1, 2003). "New York Amsterdam News".
- ^ Williams, Alex (April 12, 2023). ""Kwame Brathwaite, 85, Photographer With a Lens on Black Pride, Is Dead"". The New York Times.
- ^ Williams, Alex (April 12, 2023). "Kwame Brathwaite, 85, Photographer With a Lens on Black Pride, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Nnadi, Chioma (February 3, 2018). "How One Photographer Captured the Soul of the 'Black Is Beautiful' Movement". Vogue. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Kwame Brathwaite • Pérez Art Museum Miami". Pérez Art Museum Miami. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ Packard, Cassie (February 11, 2021). "Pérez Art Museum Announces Acquisitions by Newly Renamed Fund for Black Art". Hyperallergic. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ Williams, Alex (April 12, 2023). "Kwame Brathwaite, 85, Photographer With a Lens on Black Pride, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ Greenberger, Alex (April 3, 2023). "Kwame Brathwaite, Influential Photographer Who Proclaimed 'Black Is Beautiful,' Dies at 85". ARTnews. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ^ "The Grandassa Models, Naturally". PDN Photo of the Day. May 20, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Laneri, Raquel (February 6, 2018). "How a Harlem fashion show started the 'Black is Beautiful' movement". New York Post.
- ^ Famighetti, Michael (August 30, 2017). Elements of Style. Aperture. ISBN 978-1-59711-420-2.
- ^ Steele, Valerie (2005). Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion. Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-31395-5.
- ^ "Artist talk celebrates musical superstars". New York Amsterdam News. April 12, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Elements Of Style, Aperture Gala 2017". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
- ^ "Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ "Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography". The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ "Tools of Revolution: Fashion Photography and Activism – Houston Center for Photography". Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ "Kwame Brathwaite: The Struggle Continues, Victory is Certain". Philip Martin Gallery.
- ^ "Facing Forward: Photographic Portraits from the Collection". Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
- ^ "Changing Times". Philip Martin Gallery.
- ^ "My Village/New York". Philip Martin Gallery.
- ^ "Kwame Brathwaite: Things Well Worth Waiting For". The Art Institute of Chicago. 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
International | |
---|---|
National | |
Artists | |
Other |
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.