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Angélica Dass’ humanae, a spectrum of skin tones: Angélica Dass’ humanae

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On A Human Scale
Ang
elica Dass’ humanae, a spectrum of skin tones
Alexis E. Carrington,
1
MD , Marjon Vatanchi,
2
MD, and Jeannette Jakus,
3
MD, MBA,
FAAD
1
Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine Elmhurst Program, Elmhurst, NY, USA,
2
Department of Dermatology, The Warren
Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA,and
3
Department of Dermatology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY,
USA
E-mail: aecarring@gmail.com
Conflict of interest: None.
Funding source: None.
doi: 10.1111/ijd.14861
Ang
elica Dass is an award-winning Black/Afro-Brazilian photog-
rapher from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Raised in an ethnically
diverse family home, Dass grew up with an awareness of how
differences in skin tone can lead to racial misconceptions in the
forms of stereotypes and prejudices. After she married a Spa-
niard with a different skin tone, she wondered how their future
biracial children would be treated by their peers because of their
lighter skin tones.
1
This inspired her to create the worldwide
acclaimed Humanae project, an ongoing collection of portraits
that reveal the diverse beauty of human skin tones.
Dass photographs her subjects in front of a plain white
background and uses computer software to digitally sample an
11911 square pixel of color from the nasal tip. A computer
algorithm is used to match this sample against a library of
colors from the Pantone guide. Dass adds the identified color
to the backdrop of the photo and uses special effects to
create a collective and ever expanding mosaic of skin tones
(Figure 1).
2,3
To date, Dass has captured over 4,000 subjects in 20
countries, 2019 who have volunteered their images for this
powerful artistic movement.
2,3
Volunteers come from cultural
and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds from an aristocrat
on the Forbes 100 list to a young child from a favela (slums
in Brazil) in Rio De Janeiro.
3
Despite these differences, Dass
has been able to demonstrate commonality among strangers
who match to the same unique Pantone color (Figure 2).
As dermatologists, we are fortunate to have the Fitzpatrick
classification system which helps categorize patient reactions to
varying ultraviolet exposures. Based on this scale, we can pre-
dict factors such as how one may react to treatment procedures
or their risk of hyperpigmentation. With Dass’ introduction of an
extensive photo-classification system, perhaps there is room in
dermatology to develop a more inclusive phototyping system
that looks beyond skin tone and photosensitivity.
In recent years, the Humanae project has captured interna-
tional attention and was featured on the cover of Foreign
Affairs magazine, Newsweek, BBC Culture, and many other
news outlets.
1,6-8
During a moving 2016 TED Global Talk,
2
Dass officially launched the project as a tool for social change
with the goal of challenging cultural prejudices. In 2018, she
became a part of the TED Residency program collaborating
with other TED residents to challenge social misconceptions.
2
Most recently, the Humanae Project was featured in National
Geographic’s “The Race Issue.”
9
Dass’ photographs appear in
museums and public establishments around the world includ-
ing the Uribitarte Promenade in Bilbao, Spain, Daelim
Museum in Seoul, South Korea, and in Thessaloniki,
Greece.
10
Today, Dass runs the Humanae Institute, a non-profit edu-
cational platform with an objective to position diversity as a
core value in the educational process. She has collaborated
with city councils in Basque Country, teacher training schools
in Madrid, and high schools in the Czech Republic.
5
One of
her prominent success stories is a partnership with the United
National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and the Government of Chile, where children of
all ages are invited with their teachers to express their diver-
sity through Dass’ “Flesh Color?” workshop. This involves
adding self-appreciation practices to the school curriculum
with activities such as drawing self-portraits. The institute has
worked with 1,000 schools throughout Chile, impacting more
than 50,000 students.
5
Dass’ Humanae Project serves as a reminder to its observers
that skin exists in a spectrum of colors, rather than color labels,
such as “black” and “white.” Through her artistic journey, Dass
aims to capture every possible shade of human skin tone a
goal that is knowingly impossible to reach.
3,5-7
It is a master-
piece forever in progress.
International Journal of Dermatology 2020, 59, 640–642 ª2020 the International Society of Dermatology
640
Figure 1 A sample collage of portraits in the Humanae project (Photo courtesy of Ang
elica Dass)
ª2020 the International Society of Dermatology International Journal of Dermatology 2020, 59, 640–642
Carrington, Vatanchi and Jakus On A Human Scale 641
Author contributions
Dr. Alexis Carrington and Dr. Marjon Vatanchi had full access
to all of the information in the note and take responsibility for
the integrity and accuracy of the information presented. Alexis
E. Carrington contributed to drafting of the manuscript. Marjon
Vatanchi contributed to content editing. Jeannette Jakus con-
tributed to oversight and final editing.
References
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reveals-our-pantone-shades
2 Dass A. The beauty of human skin in every color. TED2016
[Video]. 2016. [cited 2019 Jan 2]. Available from https://www.
ted.com/talks/angelica_dass_the_beauty_of_human_skin_in_eve
ry_color/up-next?language=en
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human skin color- and the results exceeded the pantone library.
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National Geographic. 2018 April. [cited 2019 Jan 3].
Figure 2 A portrait of Ang
elica Dass (Photo courtesy of Ang
elica
Dass)
International Journal of Dermatology 2020, 59, 640–642 ª2020 the International Society of Dermatology
On A Human Scale Carrington, Vatanchi and Jakus
642
... Goodfaith attempts to explore skin appearance across multiple Fitzpatrick values [14] then become beholden to a scale that was designed to classify skin according to its damage susceptibility under UV light and various treatments. We instead advocate multi-dimensional scales designed for visual appearance, such as the Pantone-based scale inspired by photographer Angélica Dass [3]. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Current computer graphics research practices contain racial biases that have resulted in investigations into "skin" and "hair" that focus on the hegemonic visual features of Europeans and East Asians. To broaden our research horizons to encompass all of humanity, we propose a variety of improvements to quantitative measures and qualitative practices, and pose novel, open research problems.
Meet the woman making a point about race by photographing every human skin tone. Newsweek
  • Lowej
Lowe J. Meet the woman making a point about race by photographing every human skin tone. Newsweek. [Internet] 2017 Sept 19. [cited 2019 Jan 10]. Available from https://www. newsweek.com/angelica-dass-humanae-ted-talk-racismphotography-interview-666901
This artist took 4 000 portraits to show the range of human skin color- and the results exceeded the pantone library. Art Net News
  • Cascones
Cascone S. This artist took 4,000 portraits to show the range of human skin color-and the results exceeded the pantone library. Art Net News. [Internet] 2018 Mar 28. [cited 2019 Jan 3].
Everyone is a just a different shade of Pantone: Which is yours? CNN Style
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CNN Style. Everyone is a just a different shade of Pantone: Which is yours? CNN Style. [Internet] 2016 June 10. [cited 2019
Humanae by Angélica Dass. Vogue Italy
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The artist who reveals our pantone shades. BBC Culture
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Macdonald F. The artist who reveals our pantone shades. BBC Culture. [Internet] 2017 Nov 7. [cited 2019 Jan 10]. Available from http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20171107-the-artist-whoreveals-our-pantone-shades
The beauty of human skin in every color
  • Dassa
Dass A. The beauty of human skin in every color. TED2016 [Video]. 2016. [cited 2019 Jan 2]. Available from https://www. ted.com/talks/angelica_dass_the_beauty_of_human_skin_in_eve ry_color/up-next?language=en
An artist finds true skin colors in a diverse palette
  • Strochlicn
Strochlic N. An artist finds true skin colors in a diverse palette. National Geographic. 2018 April. [cited 2019 Jan 3].
Angélica Dass [Internet]
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  • Humanae Institute
Dass A. Humanae Institute. Ang elica Dass [Internet]. 2018. [cited 2019 Jan 2]. Available from https://www.angelicadass. com/humanae-project/
Where in the world has Humanae been?Ted Blog
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Catlett C. Where in the world has Humanae been? Ted Blog [Internet]. 2017. [cited 2019 Jan 20]. Available from https://blog. ted.com/where-in-the-world-has-humanae-been/
True colors: a conversation with Ang elica Dass. Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs. True colors: a conversation with Ang elica Dass. Foreign Affairs. 2015 Feb 16. [cited 2019 Jan 9].