KODAK KOLOR KARDS

Kodak Kolor Kards were used in the 1950s. They were designed for TV and film to register skin tones but only accommodated white skin, reinforcing a singular standard -“white beauty.” The standards and cards remained unchanged for many years until furniture companies complained that the imaging negatively impacted their profits. The demands for better lighting to showcase dark brown wood ushered in better lighting for brown-skinned individuals who endured similarly unflattering representation.

Thisphoto series uses abstraction to obscure features, challenging traditional beauty standards in film and photography. The abstraction represents how African Americans are often unseen or misrepresented in media. By portraying Black people in natural and meaningful ways, I aim to shift perceptions about beauty and emphasize our shared humanity over our differences.