Diversity in Images
Dec. 11th, 2011 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithRecently I tore the Internet apart looking for racially diverse reference photos as background material for Schrodinger's Heroes. Mostly what I found were white people and porn. It's amazingly difficult to find legible portraits or snapshots of people outside a very narrow mainstream. So I'm really happy when I see projects that promote diversity, like this one featuring portraits of middle-class black people from 1900. Some of these may come in handy as references for my Steamsmith series.
Notice that this is an area where a problem perpetuates itself: ethnic diversity is not portrayed much in writing, which can undercut inspiration for artists and photographers. It's not portrayed much in photography, which makes it hard for writers to deliver precise descriptions and hard for painters to create accurate portraits, which can lead to whitewashing of character illustrations. And the wheels on the bus go round and round.
Notice that this is an area where a problem perpetuates itself: ethnic diversity is not portrayed much in writing, which can undercut inspiration for artists and photographers. It's not portrayed much in photography, which makes it hard for writers to deliver precise descriptions and hard for painters to create accurate portraits, which can lead to whitewashing of character illustrations. And the wheels on the bus go round and round.
