Kwame Brathwaite, the pioneering activist and photographer whose work helped define the aesthetics of the “Black is Beautiful” movement of the 1960s and beyond, passed away on April 1 at the age of 85. His son, Kwame Brathwaite, Jr, announced his father’s death in an Instagram post, describing him as the patriarch of their family and their hero.
Brathwaite’s work has experienced a resurgence of interest from curators, historians, and collectors in recent years. His first major institutional retrospective, organized by the Aperture Foundation, premiered in 2019 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles before embarking on a national tour.
Born in 1938 to Barbadian immigrants in New York, Brathwaite was drawn to photography after two transformative moments. The first was in 1955 when he encountered David Jackson’s powerful photograph of Emmett Till, and the second was in 1956 when he witnessed a photographer capturing images in a dark jazz club without a flash. Inspired by these encounters, Brathwaite began experimenting with limited light and developing a unique darkroom technique that highlighted and enhanced the appearance of Black skin in his photography.
Brathwaite’s portfolio includes iconic images of jazz legends such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and more. He aimed to capture the feeling and mood of their performances, creating a visual narrative through his imagery.
In the early 1960s, Brathwaite and the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS) co-founded the Grandassa Models, a group of young Black women whose features he celebrated and accentuated in his photographs. The concept gained traction, and AJASS organized the “Naturally ’62” fashion show, which became a regular event until 1992. Brathwaite married Sikolo, a Grandassa Model, in 1966, and they remained together until his passing.
During the 1970s, Brathwaite shifted his focus to other forms of popular Black music. He documented the Jackson Five’s tour in Africa in 1974 and photographed the historic Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman boxing match in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brathwaite also captured images of Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Bob Marley, and other music legends.
Throughout the years, Brathwaite continued to develop his unique style of photography rooted in the “Black is Beautiful” ethos. Even in his later years, he undertook commissions and worked with galleries, further cementing his artistic legacy.
Although Brathwaite’s health prevented him from being interviewed for T Magazine’s 2021 profile, his retrospective continues to tour, currently on display at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. Additionally, an exhibition titled “Kwame Brathwaite: Things Well Worth Waiting For” is being held at the Art Institute of Chicago until July 24.
Kwame Brathwaite was a visionary artist whose photographs captured the essence of the “Black is Beautiful” movement. His legacy lives on through his powerful imagery, inspiring generations to come.