In November 1963, just months before apartheid in America was finally outlawed, two groups of black photographers based in Harlem came together to form the Kamoinge Workshop. It went on to become the longest-running photography collective in the world.
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Taken from the Gikuyu language of the Kikuyu people of Kenya, Kamoinge means “a group of people acting and working together”. The collectivist approach, which helped bring about Kenya’s independence from Britain that same year, offered the perfect antidote for a group of young black men who were systematically excluded from advancing through white-owned institutions.
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Every Sunday, Kamoinge members met in each other’s homes for a full day of conversation, critique, and shared wisdom. In the ’60s, they opened their own gallery on Harlem’s famed Striver’s Row, hosting group exhibitions, as well as talks with luminaries including Langston Hughes and Henri Cartier-Bresson. In the ’70s, they went on to produce and publish The Black Photographers’ Annual, a four-volume anthology.
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