By now, everyone should have heard about Black Panther the movie.  The most eagerly awaited movie in years. In fact, this post is super late. I actually prepared it over two weeks ago and for reasons I would rather not get into, I am only now sharing it.

In more ways than one, this is more than just a movie for many. I am not even going to try to sugarcoat it. Almost every black person I have spoken to about this movie has radically endorsed. It has to be seen. There is so much buzz about this movie and one can easily see why. The scale in terms of ethnicity in Black Panther has never been done before for a comic.

I can sense every black person I have spoken to wants it to do well for so many reasons.

At the time of writing this article, Black Panther has broken the UK record of the biggest grossing movie ever in a day. One is almost tempted to say well a Marvel movie was always going to do well. But of course, this is not just the reason Black Panther has done well. It has knocked down the notion that movies with black lead characters do not do well. This has made the success of black panther even sweeter.

The aspect I enjoyed most about this movie is the political discussion it has generated. The very fact that we are only now having the very first predominantly black cast for a superhero movie in itself is a political statement. Having seen the movie on day two after it was released, I thoroughly enjoyed the political connotations. An African king who is a superhero but also a politician who loves his people is something I have not seen before. Of course, this is all fictional storylines but you cannot deny that some of the issues highlighted were relevant and in some cases true in real life.

Honestly, I have never seen a movie that as provoked such emotions in the black community like Black Panther did. The viral video of school children dancing and singing after they were told they are going to see the movie is absolutely priceless. It shows representation and inclusion really matters. Another conversation that needs to be had that Black Panther highlighted is the disconnect between Africans and African Americans and Caribbeans through one of the lead characters, Kilmonger and the rest of Wakanda.  Anyway, I feel as if I could go on and on about this movie but let me leave it at this for now. I will certainly do another piece soon where I hope to give my take on the above issue.

To celebrate this iconic movie, I put together a shoot based on one of the customs in the movie. This particular look is simple but effective.

The Look

To put together the look, these are the following items I used: black suit, black shirt, black tie, black shoes, and a patterned scarf.

T’Challa, King of Wakanda had this look when addressing the UN as leader of his country right at the end of the movie. This hopefully won’t be a spoiler for those of you who have not seen it yet. I have also uploaded a video on youtube showing the full look.

So yeah, here is my effort to celebrate a movie I think at the very least, has started a conversation.

Photography by Charles Nas Augustus | Videography by Lloyd Almond | Location – Ivar London