Part of the ‘Black is beautiful’ movement during the civil rights era, he trained his camera on athletes, musicians and models as well as everyday people.
Kwame Brathwaite's visceral, often elegiac pictures of cultural figures like Muhammad Ali and James Brown, along with Black fashion models and ordinary citizens, were hailed as a catalyst of the “Black is beautiful” movement of the 1960s and beyond.
Kwame Brathwaite spent some six decades chronicling Black life, culture and activism. He's credited with helping found the "Black is Beautiful" movement.
Kwame Brathwaite, MNN Producer, renowned photographer, and cultural icon passed away on April 1, 2023, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire artists and activists alike. Raised in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938, Brathwaite was a self-taught photographer who became an integral part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s and 1970s.