[1] The first group, named Kamoinge was founded by Louis Draper, James "Jimmie" Mannas, Al Fennar, and Herbert Randall.
[1] The intent of the group is to cultivate a supportive and yet critical artistic community that captures black life in all of the photographers' vast experiences of it.
[2] In late 1963, Kamoinge adopted members Herb Robinson, David Carter, Adger Cowans, and Anthony Barboza into the collective.
[1] As of 2014, there had been 30 members of Kamoinge, including: Anthony Barboza (President), Adger W. Cowans (Vice President), Herb Robinson (Treasurer), Ronald Herard, Herbert Randall (founder), Collette V. Fournier, John Pinderhughes, Salimah Ali, Ming Smith, Beuford Smith (President Emeritus), Russell Frederick, Gerald Cyrus, June Truesdale, Mark Blackshear, C. Daniel Dawson, Shawn Walker (Founder), Radcliffe Roye, Albert Fennar (Founder), Darryl Sivad, Budd Williams, Jimmie Mannas, Eli Reed, and Frank Stewart.
[1] From 1964 to 1965, Kamoinge members showed their work in two exhibitions titled Theme Black and The Negro Woman in a Harlem brownstone on a street known as Strivers Row.
[2][3] Since its founding in 1963,[1] members of the collective have exhibited their works in the International Center of Photography, Countee Cullen Library, Harlem's Studio Museum, as well as a host of other sites.
[4] In 1974, Some of the photographs taken by members of Kamoinge were displayed at a gallery exhibit for the International Center of Photography, which caused the group to gain publicity.
[1] In Harlem, NY, from 1998 to 1999, through the efforts of Kamoinge member Shawn Walkers, the collective became affiliated with the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship (IYE).
[1] In 2001, Kamoinge members Anthony Barboza and Beuford Smith were consultants to the Brooklyn Museum Exhibit, “Committed to the Image: A Half Century of Black Photography in America.