Is Photography Racist?

[Norbert 145]

An academic said to me one evening that photography was inherently racist.  My initial reaction as a scientist was that film and digital sensors are linear, the amount of light falling on them is proportional to the brightness of the end result. Also, photography is not all about portraits of people but about capturing everything accurately and using the maximum dynamic range of the medium. Perhaps photo-processing labs could be racist but these days we look at most photos on a screen.

 

I have disappointing photos of people with dark skin, and note that ‘white’ skin (e.g. the average Irish person) has a reflectivity of about 65% and ‘black’ skin (e.g. the average Malawian) has a reflectivity of about 27%. I suppose then that white faces will have the benefit of a larger dynamic range to pick out their features.

 

In the digital age cameras could/should have settings to capture dark skin better. Photographers recommend positioning people better with respect to the light, or using lights and reflectors, but much of this is impractical for everyday photography.

 

I’m not interested in the opinions of thick and/or far right people, so what do you normal people think, is photography a bit racist?

[The_DADDY 3,477]

Yes it is.

As is the countryside,  apparently. 

[Prettytom 1,648]

16 minutes ago, Norbert said:

Anna B, Hackey Lad, Mister M, Padders, TomPetty, Irene Swaine...

Photography is.

 

And racism also is.

 

So, there’s a chance that in the venn diagram of photos and racists, there’s an overlap.

 

After all, Hitler and Boris Johnson both took photos.

 

It’s a shame that you didn’t put me on your big hitters list. If you had. I’d have been more expansive 😁

[Norbert 145]

1 minute ago, Prettytom said:

Photography is.

 

And racism also is.

 

So, there’s a chance that in the venn diagram of photos and racists, there’s an overlap.

 

After all, Hitler and Boris Johnson both took photos.

 

It’s a shame that you didn’t put me on your big hitters list. If you had. I’d have been more expansive 😁

Now you're just the kind of smartarse who could actually help me out here, was this academic a bozo or is there something in it?

[Prettytom 1,648]

7 minutes ago, Norbert said:

Now you're just the kind of smartarse who could actually help me out here, was this academic a bozo or is there something in it?

I think he’d probably just got his lens cap inserted incorrectly.

[SheffieldForum 946]

In my mind, as someone who has done photography:

 

“Photography” isn’t inherently racist and can’t be so, because it is capturing a moment and an image.

 

BUT:

 

The technology behind photography CAN be racist.

 

Sensors may not capture all colours and tones. Colourspace captured by cameras may not be sufficient to see all people of different skin tones. Mobile cameras are particularly bad at this, especially in darker places.

 

There’s also arguments about whether photographers lean towards photographing certain skin tones (maybe because of the above) so would ‘prefer’ to photograph lighter skinned people.

 

So.. “Photography” isn’t racist… but photography can be.

 

Glad I cleared that up. 😬🤷‍♂️

[The_DADDY 3,477]

3 minutes ago, SheffieldForum said:

In my mind, as someone who has done photography:

 

“Photography” isn’t inherently racist and can’t be so, because it is capturing a moment and an image.

 

BUT:

 

The technology behind photography CAN be racist.

 

Sensors may not capture all colours and tones. Colourspace captured by cameras may not be sufficient to see all people of different skin tones. Mobile cameras are particularly bad at this, especially in darker places.

 

There’s also arguments about whether photographers lean towards photographing certain skin tones (maybe because of the above) so would ‘prefer’ to photograph lighter skinned people.

 

So.. “Photography” isn’t racist… but photography can be.

 

Glad I cleared that up. 😬🤷‍♂️

My bold.

Ahhhhhh, I get it now. My dashcam is crap at night NOT because I cheaped out and bought the cheaper model but because Nextbase is racist. That actually makes me feel a little better about my dashcam choice 😁

[Norbert 145]

5 minutes ago, SheffieldForum said:

In my mind, as someone who has done photography:

 

“Photography” isn’t inherently racist and can’t be so, because it is capturing a moment and an image.

 

BUT:

 

The technology behind photography CAN be racist.

 

Sensors may not capture all colours and tones. Colourspace captured by cameras may not be sufficient to see all people of different skin tones. Mobile cameras are particularly bad at this, especially in darker places.

 

There’s also arguments about whether photographers lean towards photographing certain skin tones (maybe because of the above) so would ‘prefer’ to photograph lighter skinned people.

 

So.. “Photography” isn’t racist… but photography can be.

 

Glad I cleared that up. 😬🤷‍♂️

Thank you for a considered and balanced contribution, I don't think you've cleared it up though, it still looks like lack of skill is the main contributor, especially as film and sensors are essentially linear as per my OP. 

[SheffieldForum 946]

12 minutes ago, Norbert said:

Thank you for a considered and balanced contribution, I don't think you've cleared it up though, it still looks like lack of skill is the main contributor, especially as film and sensors are essentially linear as per my OP. 

*ignoring other posts in the hope this can get on track*
 

I see your point.
 

There is definitely a skill element. 

 

Theres a split, for me.

 

Professional photographers may indeed have the skill to find the right lighting and conditions for a shoot with darker skin tones, and also have the wherewithal to edit their shots to a good standard.

 

But, on the flip side 99.99% of photographs these days are taken by amateurs (mostly on their phones), and the sensors, hardware and software of that just aren’t sufficient to accurately represent a lot of skin tones. Yes. It is linear, but how many people will shoot in a fashion that will allow editing to a colourspace that allows for proper editing (and then do it) and how many just ‘point-and-shoot’, and that’s it?

[hackey lad 3,987]

40 minutes ago, SheffieldForum said:

In my mind, as someone who has done photography:

 

“Photography” isn’t inherently racist and can’t be so, because it is capturing a moment and an image.

 

BUT:

 

The technology behind photography CAN be racist.

 

Sensors may not capture all colours and tones. Colourspace captured by cameras may not be sufficient to see all people of different skin tones. Mobile cameras are particularly bad at this, especially in darker places.

 

There’s also arguments about whether photographers lean towards photographing certain skin tones (maybe because of the above) so would ‘prefer’ to photograph lighter skinned people.

 

So.. “Photography” isn’t racist… but photography can be.

 

Glad I cleared that up. 😬🤷‍♂️

How can a camera be racist ?

[The_DADDY 3,477]

1 minute ago, hackey lad said:

How can a camera be racist ?

Good question. Especially as most of them are black. 

[Norbert 145]

3 minutes ago, SheffieldForum said:

*ignoring other posts in the hope this can get on track*
 

I see your point.
 

There is definitely a skill element. 

 

Theres a split, for me.

 

Professional photographers may indeed have the skill to find the right lighting and conditions for a shoot with darker skin tones, and also have the wherewithal to edit their shots to a good standard.

 

But, on the flip side 99.99% of photographs these days are taken by amateurs (mostly on their phones), and the sensors, hardware and software of that just aren’t sufficient to accurately represent a lot of skin tones. Yes. It is linear, but how many people will shoot in a fashion that will allow editing to a colourspace that allows for proper editing (and then do it) and how many just ‘point-and-shoot’, and that’s it?

Thanks. Phone cameras could easily have an algorithm that improves things, my Samsung doesn't seem to have one but perhaps other phones or cameras do? Skin tones with 50% reflectivity should by rights be easiest to capture, but I'm sure I'm missing lots about the subjective nature of pictures and photography.