Kwame Brathwaite at NYHS

What immediately draws you into the “Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite,” the traveling exhibit now at the New York Historical Society, is a portrait of Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln. The beaming couple were jazz royalty and Brathwaite’s camera, as it did on so many occasions, captured them in the ’60s when AJASS (African Jazz-Art Society & Studios) was a vanguard group of visionary artists spearheading the merger of music, politics, art, and revolutionary activism.  

The 40 large-scale color and black-and-white photos decorating three rooms are a panorama of scenes exemplary of Brathwaite’s brilliantly productive career. Each is a frozen moment that exudes beauty, integrity, and a dynamic aspect of Black history and culture. He forged a partnership with the Aperture Foundation to launch the exhibit, which also published a book featuring the collection.