Kwame Brathwaite, photographer behind 'Black is Beautiful', dies at 85

Kwame Brathwaite, an influential American photographer known for popularizing the phrase 'Black is Beautiful' through his striking portraits of Black communities, passed away at the age of 85. In 1956, he was a co-founder of the African Jazz and Art Society and Studios (AJASS) in New York. His early photography featured jazz legends such as Miles Davis and Duke Ellington in the low-light ambiance of Bronx clubs, captured without flash. He later immortalized icons like the Jackson Five, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Bob Marley. In the 1960s, he established the 'Grandassa Models' by recruiting Black women from Harlem for informal portraits, a name inspired by 'Grandassaland,' an ancestral reference to Africa. Brathwaite's images embodied the 'Black is Beautiful' slogan, initially introduced by Marcus Garvey. After years of being overlooked, his work received significant recognition through a 2019 Aperture touring retrospective and monographs. In 2018, he expressed his passion for his community: 'I love Black people.' Rihanna acknowledged his Grandassa Models photographs as a source of inspiration for her 2019 Fenty fashion line. He is survived by his wife, Sikolo Brathwaite, and their son, Kwame Samori Brathwaite.