By using his camera and pen, photojournalist and activist Kwame Braithwaite helped influence and shape the cultural, social and political 'Black is Beautiful Movement.'
Self portrait by Kwame Braithwaite
Through his work as a photographer, journalist and activist, Brooklyn, New York native Kwame Braithwaite (born in 1938) chronicled Black life in Harlem, Africa and throughout the African diaspora.
In the 1950s, Braithwaite along with his brother John Edward, founded the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios, a artist collective made up of musicians, playwrights, painters, designers and dancers. The brothers also founded The Grandessa Modeling Agency, which showcased all Black models. Kwame's work helped shape Black culture at the time, and he became known as helping popularize the phrase "Black Is Beautiful."
Braithwaite's passion for photography and music eventually led him to shooting album covers and writing music reviews in the 1970s. Most notably, he wrote a review for Stevie Wonder's 1976 album, 'Songs In The Key of Life' titled "Things Well Worth Waiting For," not only capturing the excitement and anticipation of the record, he also articulated through his writing the uncertain and possibilities of the times.
Kwame Braithwaite: 'Things Well Worth Waiting For," on exhibition in gallery #188 at The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, until July 24, 2023.