Photographer and media theorist KWAME BRATHWAITE (b. 1938, lives New York) was one of the first people to promote “Black is Beautiful." This is arguably one of the most important American ideas of the second half of the 20th century. A shrewd visual thinker, Brathwaite recognized the problematics of individual difference within a homogenous media context. He recognized that in order to change how people thought about themselves, and others, he had to change what they actually saw. Positive 'natural' images of African-Americans were few and far between in the media landscape of the late 50s/early 60s. With his photographs, Brathwaite set about creating a visual armature where none had existed previously, and used his connections in art, fashion and music to disseminate the Black is Beautiful message in a range of media. Within ten years, Black is Beautiful was a household concept. Over the course of the past three years, Philip Martin Gallery has been working with Brathwaite to organize his archive. A major book on his work is forthcoming from Aperature in spring 2019; a museum tour starts summer 2019
