History

(Kamoinge issue) Excerpt from Nueva Luz photographic journal Volume 7#1 (2001)

En Foco presents this special issue in honor of the Kamoinge photographers. The group was formed in 1963 (the same year that the civil rights bill was introduced into the U.S. Senate) providing crucial support and solidarity for those vying towards artistic equality. Counteracting stereotypical media images and defining their own communities, Kamoinge gained the attention of museum and galleries, moving them to exhibit works by photographers of color for the first time. Since many of the original Kamoinge members are still active today, we have made a photographic selection that spans the past thirty years. The greater impact of their efforts may not yet be in all the art history books, but our hope is that our viewers will draw strength and inspiration from these images. Miriam Romais, Editor

"Kamoinge exists, as a forum of African-American photographers, to view and critique each others work in an honest and understanding atmosphere, to nurture and challenge each other in order to attain the highest creative level. The name comes from the Kikuyu language of Kenya, and means a group of people acting together. Its aim is to seek out the truth inherent in our cultural roots, to create and communicate these truths with insight and integrity.

For many of us, the turbulent 60s brought into focus a deep sense of urgency to find a direction for our photographs. Seeking a spine for this direction made feedback for our efforts as critical an activity as creating the work itself.

Through the community grapevine, word was passed that a meeting was to be held in Harlem to bring African-American photographers together. In 1963, Group 35, which included James Ray Francis, Louis Draper, Herman Howard, Earl James and Calvin Mercer - met with a second group of photographers, including Herbert Randall, Albert Fennar and James Mannas, Jr.

The groups joined forming Kamoinge - a name selected by Fennar. Roy DeCarava, Larry Stewart and Melvin Mills were instrumental in the early years of Kamoinge's development. To paraphrase Ray Francis, "we were working on little individual islands, unaware of each other's presence." This situation, he felt, impeded growth, and therefore, needed to be addressed if we were to flourish as image makers, DeCarava was a major catalyst in giving direction to the group and was voted Kamoinge's first director.

The group's first significant activity was to produce a portfolio of photographs, so that Kamoinge's images could be placed in permanent collections. Since Mills worked in a print shop, he was able to print twenty portfolios at no cost, with a cover designed by DeCarava. A second portfolio was created, containing fifteen original prints. Our intention was to help make up for the absence of works by African-American artists, so history could not say we did not exist. We sent them to several African-American colleges, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

During that time, we were meeting at several members' homes and, to them; Kamoinge acknowledges its deep gratitude. In 1965, we rented the parlor floor of a Harlem brownstone on 137th Street and named it the Kamoinge Gallery. One of our important projects was the Final Man based on a poem by the Jamaican poet, Basil McFarlane. It was the first consciously African-oriented theme attempted by the group. Our first exhibition was called Theme Black, and featured an original design by an artist named Shiki.

With a new space, we scheduled guest speakers and were open to new members. Our critiques were tough and to the point, but constructive. Some visitors and those wanting to become members did not fare well from our feedback. Others blossomed, became members, and grew, teaching one another the virtues of seeing with passion and conviction. Among our guests were Peter Magune, a South African photojournalist; John Szarkowski, then the Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art; Langston Hughes, poet and playwright; Henri Cartier-Bresson, photojournalist; and R.E. Martinez, publisher of the Swiss magazine, Camera. Cartier-Bresson suggested to Martinez that Kamoinge should be published in Camera, which resulted in a twenty-three-page feature in the July 1966 issue.

DeCarava left the group at the end of 1965. Kamoinge vacated the gallery space the following year, in dispute over the landlord's policy of who should decide what should be exhibited. A few years later we resumed exhibiting at places such as The Studio Museum in Harlem, the International Center for Photography, Amherst College and Notre Dame University.

In 1998, Beuford Smith helped the group achieve non-profit status. Through Shawn Walker's efforts, Kamoinge became affiliated with the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship (I.Y.E.) in Harlem, from 1998-99. As part of our involvement with the community, we provided seminars and a Black History Month exhibition.

Kamoinge has been active giving seminars; has had portfolios published in Culture Front magazine; received two acknowledgments in American Visions magazine; and created a major exhibition at UFA Gallery in New York City, curated by Steve Martin. Anthony Barboza and Beuford Smith served as consulting curators for the major exhibition Committed to the Image: A Half Century of Black Photography in America, at the Brooklyn Museum of Art." Beuford Smith and Herb Robinson served as coordinators for an exhibition at G.R. N'Namdi Gallery in New York City. In 2004,Frank Stewart's dedication and persistence led to the publication of Kamoinge's work, byAtria Books, Simon&Schuster entitled, The Sweet Breath of Life.

Beuford Smith (former president, was the project coordinator for the book: The Sweet Breath of Life)