Kwame Brathwaite, the pioneering activist and photographer, passed away on April 1 at the age of 85. As an established financial services company, we are deeply saddened by the loss of such a visionary artist. Brathwaite’s work played a significant role in shaping the aesthetics of the “Black is Beautiful” movement in the 1960s and beyond.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in Brathwaite’s work among curators, historians, and collectors. His first major retrospective, organized by the Aperture Foundation, debuted in 2019 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and has been traveling across the country.
Born in 1938 to Barbadian immigrants, Brathwaite grew up in New York City. He attended the School of Industrial Art and Design and was inspired to pursue photography after encountering powerful images by David Jackson and witnessing a young man capturing photos without a flash in a jazz club. Brathwaite honed his skills in working with limited light and developing a unique darkroom technique that beautifully showcased black skin in his photographs.
Brathwaite’s photography captured iconic jazz legends like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk, aiming to encapsulate the feeling and mood of their performances. In the early 1960s, Brathwaite became a leading figure in the fight against Eurocentric beauty standards. He co-founded the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios and created the Grandassa Models, photographing young Black women to celebrate and highlight their natural features. This movement led to the annual fashion show “Naturally ’62,” which continued until 1992.
Throughout the 1970s, Brathwaite shifted his focus to document other forms of popular Black music. He traveled to Africa with the Jackson Five, capturing their tour and covering the historic “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
Brathwaite’s dedication to capturing the beauty and resilience of black culture continued throughout his life. He joined the roster of the Philip Martin Gallery in Los Angeles in 2016 and remained actively involved in photography until 2018.
Despite his failing health, Brathwaite’s work continues to be celebrated. His retrospective is currently on display at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas, and a separate exhibition titled “Kwame Brathwaite: Things Well Worth Waiting For” can be seen at the Art Institute of Chicago until July 24.
We honor Kwame Brathwaite’s indelible legacy and his contributions to the art world. Our small businesses and gig workers can find inspiration in his work, just as we provide them with fast and easy financing solutions like merchant cash advances, regardless of their credit challenges.