by Jon Lackman | 10 November 2008 | Photography
An article in Le Temps recounts the controversy that ensued in 1994 when Time darkened a photograph of O.J. Simpson for its cover. Then it writes:
Fourteen years later, it’s impossible not to notice how scrupulous such magazines have been to present Barack Obama favorably, taking care to neither darken nor lighten overmuch the skin of a hero who himself defines himself as mixed-race or “postracial.” Despite progress in imaging technology, find the right tone remains an arduous task … [And] it’s not just about finding the exact skin tone. The way we look at black skin has also changed, remarks Nathalie Herschdorfer, associate curator at the Musée de l’Elysée: “We’re much more open today to different types of skin and beauty. That’s not to say intolerance has disappeared … [But] the image has played an important role in [creating] greater acceptance of differences.” Photography in particular. It long stereotyped the black man … [but] the natural elegance of Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan has been magnified by images … “At the end of the day, their skin is very photographic,” confirms [artist] Valérie Belin. “It has granular surfaces that sparkle and shimmer. It catches light well. It also underscores the importance of skin as an interface between inside and outside, as a surface that carries meaning, the past, personality, and self-image.”
(via ARHV)
