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Some think that if white people had been a dark colour, photography of dark skin would have been a priority, and the technology would have been developed accord

Some think that if white people had been a dark colour, photography of dark skin would have been a priority, and the technology would have been developed accordingly.

ForestCritter 3y ago
It is extremely difficult to get definition on a black cat no matter what technology you use. For that matter, it is harder to see definition on a black cat with the human eye. Just like it is harder to see definition in the dark. Its called color theory, refraction, absorption. Its also difficult to get depth and definition without reflective distortion on metal jewellery. Are we racist against metallics too?
sangnoir 3y ago
> photography of dark skin would have been a priority, and the technology would have been developed accordingly No "if" about it - your hypothetical translored. Kodak only got better at capturing darker browns after chocolate and Furniture industries (lots of wood hues) complained about not being able to get good pictures quality of their products. A team of two unlikely businesses—furniture makers and chocolate manufacturers—protested against Kodak’s films for discriminating against dark hues[1] 1. https://time.com/5871502/film-race-history/ https://time.com/5871502/film-race-history/
- webmaven 3y ago
  Thank you! That's an excellent anecdatapoint.
thsksbd 3y ago
But that's not my point. I have no problem also asserting that American film makers, because of their past racists prejudices, didn't bother to research a workable solution to a fundamentally physical problem. My point is that any new visual technology will have problems capturing detail of black any objects. Vintage film didn't capture black detail because information is lost because the object destroyed it. Btw, the problem still exists. Kodak didnt magically conjure a product with ten more stops of dynamic range. Maybe a stop or two and lot of heuristics. Grab the fanciest camera you can and try taking a picture of an object painted with vantablack. It is impossible. Likewise, I have zero surprise that ppl with dark skin trip up vision systems that have been widely deployed for only ten years. That is not evidence of researcher bias; its evidence that its a new technology trying to get something to work. If this issue is ignored for next 90, than we can conclude that there is bias. So what to so until then? Just let black people be victimized? NO! How about we throw away our techno-dystopian state and its abominable technology instead?

Some think that if white people had been a dark colour, photography of dark skin would have been a priority, and the technology would have been developed accordingly.

ForestCritter 3y ago

It is extremely difficult to get definition on a black cat no matter what technology you use. For that matter, it is harder to see definition on a black cat with the human eye. Just like it is harder to see definition in the dark. Its called color theory, refraction, absorption. Its also difficult to get depth and definition without reflective distortion on metal jewellery. Are we racist against metallics too?

sangnoir 3y ago

> photography of dark skin would have been a priority, and the technology would have been developed accordingly No "if" about it - your hypothetical translored. Kodak only got better at capturing darker browns after chocolate and Furniture industries (lots of wood hues) complained about not being able to get good pictures quality of their products. A team of two unlikely businesses—furniture makers and chocolate manufacturers—protested against Kodak’s films for discriminating against dark hues[1] 1. https://time.com/5871502/film-race-history/ https://time.com/5871502/film-race-history/

webmaven 3y ago
Thank you! That's an excellent anecdatapoint.

thsksbd 3y ago

But that's not my point. I have no problem also asserting that American film makers, because of their past racists prejudices, didn't bother to research a workable solution to a fundamentally physical problem. My point is that any new visual technology will have problems capturing detail of black any objects. Vintage film didn't capture black detail because information is lost because the object destroyed it. Btw, the problem still exists. Kodak didnt magically conjure a product with ten more stops of dynamic range. Maybe a stop or two and lot of heuristics. Grab the fanciest camera you can and try taking a picture of an object painted with vantablack. It is impossible. Likewise, I have zero surprise that ppl with dark skin trip up vision systems that have been widely deployed for only ten years. That is not evidence of researcher bias; its evidence that its a new technology trying to get something to work. If this issue is ignored for next 90, than we can conclude that there is bias. So what to so until then? Just let black people be victimized? NO! How about we throw away our techno-dystopian state and its abominable technology instead?