Canadian photographer Chris Buck released a small series of photographs in O, The Oprah Magazine which focused on the counter stereotypes of race – where the images showed people of colour in opposite roles to white people (Elite Daily, 2017). The photos flipped the general idea of race and power dynamics to create discourses on how race can impact the normality of an image.
He claims that the reason he made these images are because he, as a white male, has the power and privilege to address these topics and make the topic more frequently discussed. The reactions from the public support this statement:
Images taken from: https://www.elitedaily.com/life/culture/lets-talk-about-race-photos-chris-buck-oprah-magazine/1954524
This series really interested me, and I want to base my project for this term around counter stereotypes and how this can make an audience feel – empowered, respected, maybe even uncomfortable. Themes of role reversal are something that is interesting me a lot at the moment, and if I can I would like to include this in the foundations for my own work.
This is the first image in Buck’s series, featuring a young white girl in front of shelves full of black dolls. The image doesn’t focus on the feelings of the child, hence why her back is to the camera. However, it does highlight how she doesn’t have a choice, there is no access to a doll that represents her personally, and this is something that isn’t talked about enough in the discourse of race.
This image highlights power dynamic, with the white woman featured as the maid of a hotel/household serving a hispanic woman. Hispanic women as domestic workers is a common stereotype, even featured in films such as Maid in Manhattan (2002) which features Jennifer Lopez as a maid in a hotel, and Hattie McDaniel in the classic Gone with the Wind (1939). Images such as this begin to ask unanswered questions, such as why women of colour dominate these roles.
Most nail salons tend to feature an entirely Asian staff, and so to see the staff made entirely of white women makes a very jarring experience for the audience – who, although having never thought about it before, would most likely never have seen this in real life. Not only this, but the reality of working in a nail salon generally features being exposed to harsh chemicals and increasingly low pay (The New York Times, 2015; The New York Times, 2015).
Elite Daily (2017) Chris Buck Flips The Script On Race And Power Dynamics. Available from: https://www.elitedaily.com/life/culture/lets-talk-about-race-photos-chris-buck-oprah-magazine/1954524 [Accessed 30 January 2019].
Gone with the Wind (1939) [DVD]. Directed by Victor Fleming. USA: Loew’s Inc.
Maid in Manhattan (2002) [DVD]. Directed by Wayne Wang. USA: Columbia Pictures.
The New York Times (2015) The Price of Nice Nails. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html [Accessed 30 January 2019].
The New York Times (2015) Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/nyregion/nail-salon-workers-in-nyc-face-hazardous-chemicals.html [Accessed 30 January 2019].
Intensive Production 