Angelica Dass is a Brazilian art activist and photographer. Her 'Humanae' project created in 2012 focuses on matching the subject's skin tone with the background colour. I find it intriguing that the artist uses Pantone (colour matching) within her photos. It satirises the idea of society allocating people with labels. The models are matched with their coloured background purely based on first impressions/appearance. This almost restricts the subject's identity in the sense that they could have mixed heritage (although they are judged purely on appearance). It is evident that the portraits were captured in a studio setting. The use of hard light further defines the person's facial features and bone structure. The 'identity' theme poses questions of diversity, individuality and equality. I find this focus of work rather engaging due to its raw and distinctive presentation.
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The fact Dass has chosen to display her work in an almost 'contact sheet' format allows the audience to view the models as individuals within a collective (see above). Although they are all photographed for the same reason, they have their individual qualities (such as features, colour, hair) making them different and stand out from others. Dass decides to focus on race and ethnicity.
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She purposefully uses a full range of skin tones in order to present a sense of equality which may allow the audience to recognise the various colours and unlimited range of skin tone. Her other works include 'De Pies A Cabeza' (English translation: From Head To Toe), which captures the shoes of the public. Again, her project revolves around the idea of identity and retracting information from a single image.
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Maja Daniels is a Swedish photographer who studied journalism, sociology and photography which led her to become fascinated with capturing people perhaps on the edge of society. I find her documentary style of work rather significant as she photographs an elderly French twins named 'Monette and Mady'. She continued to produce a short film on the pair called: 'Kinfolk Family Issue: My Other Half'. Kinfolk Family Issue: My Other Half
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