Here’s Why This Photo Series Featuring Black Women Received Backlash on Social Media

Minnesota fashion designer and student, Isaac West, never expected that this photos series collaboration with photographer Haythem Lafhaj would have come with such backlash. The series called “One” showcased black women with different skin tones.

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He posted the 9 photos in late March on  Instagram, and shortly thereafter began to receive negative comments on two of the photos.The two photos that received the most backlash were the photos wherein the light skin model is in the front or in the center.

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Photo Credit: Isaac West
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Photo Credit: Isaac West

Folks didn’t take too kindly to these photos and here’s why:

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One person even asserted:

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It should be noted that out of 9 of the photos that were shared, the light skin model was only front or centered in two of them.  The entire premise of the photo series was to show unity in our blackness, regardless of skin tone, said West.

As black people, we have something very unique about us — our skin tone. It comes in all different shades, and some people sometimes use that against us. It doesn’t matter if she’s dark, she’s brown, she’s light brown, or she has fair skin. We all are black and we all are one.”

In an  interview with Allure magazine, West stated he didn’t  put her in the middle because she was better but because he wanted her to stand out:

I put her in the middle because I wanted her to stand out, and the reason I wanted her to stand out is because her color was so different.”

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Colourism is real (Read here if you don’t believe me) and it is divisive, but how do we get beyond it? We’ve been fed the lie that light skin is better skin and as a result have often shunned members of our community.

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What’s your take on the reactions to these photos? Sound off below!

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32 Comments

  1. I think that people are hyper sensitive and looking for a reason to be upset, in this case only 2 of the 9 photos were posed that way, so clearly the message wasn’t “white is right”….its situations like these where we as black people make the most ignorant comments/responses that that really set us back….

  2. I think the project was very beautiful! Sometimes a person can make their issue everybody issue. Thanks for sharing.

  3. I don’t see anything wrong with the two photos in question. He presented the girls in a “spectrum” sense. You would see colors of the rainbow with lightest more to the right. What is wrong with this? There is no colorism at all. It’s just a “spectrum” of beautiful browns. Leave it be!

  4. Who are the models? And I thought all the photos were beautiful.
    I can see a heads and tails on each shot, but this is media roll with it.
    Take the bad with the ugly.

  5. No matter what we do it will always be something. The truth we are a people of color that’s makes us unique. Everything thing about us weather it’s our melanin or our DNA we stand out. That’s the problem.

  6. The pictures were beautiful and I had no problems with them!

  7. I loved them all!!!!

  8. VERONICA MUNROE says:

    I do not see anything wrong with this picture. He is showing that we come in all different hues, from the lightest to the darkest. Does it matter the placement of the women? If the women with the darker complexion were in the front, the lighter complexion women will be offended. Stop finding fault where there is none. Black women are beautiful, let’s embrace are uniqueness instead of fighting.

  9. To the person who said that the lighter skin female is not even black, you dolt, do you not see her features, did you not watch Queen. Blacks hate blacks, what I saw was the use of lighting & him showing skin tone as it gets darker, with the lightest in front and the darkest in back. It’s 2 photos out of 9, must we find fault with everything. Do we not know how to look at art or see art. Can’t we just congratulate each other and just say good job. DAMN!

  10. I am so tired of seeing the palest of skin tone up front like the darkest skinned person in the back as an after thought.

  11. I love the transitions of the skin tones and the fact that we are a unique people who come in all hues….from the extreme dark to the extreme light and all shades in between. We have to stop separating ourselves due to our skin tones. We are all beautiful!

  12. Its his work, let it be, if dontblikebthe pics- create your own take. We arevall black regradlessbof our various shades of it. Stand together/ United. Stop hating and bring one another down.

  13. I love the variety of black women. This reminds me of my family.

  14. People are stupid and find stupid crap to have a problem with. Simple as that.

  15. Why in the world is she considered “un-black” because her skin is so fair? Was he serious when he said that. Why do “We” always have to be negative when it comes to US? (Skin, speech & hair alike) I just saw it as him trying g to put them in an order of shade. Didn’t even think to say “why is she there?” or “she’s in the front because she’s really light.” I think this shows all others how diverse “WE” are. WE are a COLOR WHEEL!!

  16. Danita Davis says:

    I didn’t think much about the picture or that he was stating she was better until I saw done of the comments, all I saw was different beautiful women of all shades of brown, I thought the pictures were gorgeous. Of course us as black people had to go there that’s why we can’t get past colorism even tho they know other people use it to divide us. Smh.

  17. Photodiva says:

    Black people are sometimes super sensitive about things. This was one of those times. The series is beautiful and showcases how beautiful and diverse we are as a people. The people who were criticizing his work were being super sensitive for no reason. Maybe they can see that now.

  18. I didn’t really notice until I read the article.

  19. Lois Douglass says:

    Many aspects of the photographs are indeed, beautiful. Placement of the models, does depict the differing gradations of hues in the skin color of Black Women. We must, however, be aware that ‘colorism’ is based on a very real system of discrimination formed centuries ago. People of darker hues were valued less than those of lighter…even on the auction block; For centuries, lighter hues ensured better treatment, and advantage – darker..mistreatment, and disadvantage – even loss of life! Are the models’ placement in the photos indicative of such historic disregard for Women of darker color? While we have no way of discerning the intent of the photographer, we must honor what has been the ofttimes difficult Journey of Peoples of color, based purely on their skin color! Peace and Blessings, Dear Ones…

  20. They are absolutely gorgeous. I get what tbe photographer was saying. He was juzt showing an array of colors from the lightest to the darkest. Have any of you given tbought witb tbe negative comments toward the light skinned sister how you have made her feel? “Sbe is BLACK people.”

  21. beautiful photos.
    But in2017 we must know that ‘Black’ doesn’t come in all colors. Three of those ladies are mixed. They look the way they do, because they are mixed, whether it is biracial, or a recent mix, they are a mix of European & African. We have to accept that. And as long as we define both groups of women(people) under the same ‘Black is Beautiful’ heading, not only is it not a biological truth, but a continuation of colorism. A real Nubian woman should not have to be constantly put in a position of comparison with a mixed women. Vanessa Williams was not the first African-American Miss America, that title should have been reserved for a woman that really is.

    All those ladies in the photos are beautiful. But let them represent the ethnic group they are.

    Great photos again.

  22. George Offord says:

    Personally, I’ve been trying to figure out for years what is meant by “Black”.
    If it’s a visual thing then there are “White” people who are far more blacker than some “Blacks”. If it’s cultural thing, then America and Africa are miles away in more than just kilometers. If it’s DNA, then a whole lot of people are related who look completely different from each other in both physical form and color, but who are actually related.
    Are dark Indians (Asia) and dark colored Pakistanis “Black”, “White”, or just don’t have any associated color terminology???
    What do you actually mean by “Black”, how do you define it????

  23. I mean it gets annoying when the lightest and whitest looking girl is made the center of everything, can’t we move past that?

  24. The photo should always go from darker to lighter seeing how that is the sequence of world and human civilization. #tcxpi

  25. It’s a piece of artwork…
    Not a big deal…..
    Please stop making it something clearly it’s not
    Simply beautiful….

  26. Alfred Jones says:

    Color flows from black to white, from dark to light, not vice versa, portray an accurate depiction.

  27. Ebony Clark says:

    I like the pictures. As a fair skin Black women, I appreciate finally being represented in the color spectrum of Black women.

    Ex: Essence magazine never offers make up suggestions for my skin tone. Nor, are there ever pictures of models who look like me. Which is why I don’t buy the magazine.

  28. I wouldn’t have even thought there was a “point” being made just seeing the Beautiful picture of various Black Women.

    First- I beleive we as Blacks are slways so quick yo think negatively about what shade of blsck is better. We have been brainwashed that way!

    Artistically it is beautifully contrasting (skin tones).
    The previous comments made are enotionally and psychologically based*

  29. Absolutely beautiful. We are all women of color, embrace it

  30. Kathy Smith says:

    These beautiful women look like my family members we are all a wide variety darker and lighter tones and somewhere in between. We all love each other equally and we lift each other up. Dark skin black women in my kids are all on the extremely Lighter Side and they understand that one shade is better than the other they love each other in Avon Beauty in their differences & similarities.❤

  31. Well people are hiprocritical about this really. When you buy make up is it not the wicker lighter color first. It’s the strongest darkest color last. Well welcome to being woke.

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