No More Photoshoots Like Simone Biles'

After witnessing the backlash from Simone Biles' Vogue cover I had to sit aside and ponder: Why is it so challenging for some photographers to capture the beauty of black skin/people? Our undertones, our glow, even the texture of our hair. I read an article a while ago about the racial bias built into photography in the New York Times by Sarah Lewis. In this article, I learned about the “Shirley card” used to calibrate colors when developing photos. These cards were white women with brown hair. It wasn’t until the mid-1990’s that Kodak introduced a Shirley card that included a White, Black, Asian, and later a Latinx model, attempting to help technicians better calibrate colors with varying skin tones.

There is a lack of education when it comes to capturing dark skin models. When taught about it in schools it is almost like black skin is a problem that needs to be solved. That white skin is the bases that normal is measured and anything but that is different.

So, like always I went looking for methods to best capture dark skin. One important tip is to determine the undertone of your model. This would enable you as the photographer to find backdrops or backgrounds that complement the undertone of the person being photographed. Aundre Larrow, a Brooklyn-based portrait photographer mentioned in a video with Motion that when choosing backdrops and clothing for a shoot it's important to determine the undertones to create harmony in the photo. In this same video, he mentioned the importance of reflectors when shooting with natural light. Many do not have the luxury of shooting in a studio and rely solely on natural light. In order to brighten the light we cannot control, Larrow suggests utilizing reflectors. This could be any large white surface like posterboards or shooting in a completely white room. This will bring light to areas that may be shadowed out which is very important when shooting with darker skin.

When lighting your talent with studio lights always include a hair light. This light will allow you to see where the model’s hair ends and where the backdrop begins. This will better enable us to capture the texture of the model’s hair. There’s a normalized idea that ember and blue lights should be used when photographing people with darker skin. This is not necessarily true. Yes, dark skin looks magnificent under these colored lights but, like the Directory of Photography for Insecure, Ava Berkofsky said there is no universal way to photograph black skin. So remember have fun and play with the color of the lightning to see what works best.

Photo Credit: VOGUE, nytime.com, Aundre Larrow

Report: Lauren Tucker