I also saw the pictures from the Beyonce French photo shoot, where her face was darkened to portray the theme of "African Queen". I read a few articles about it and found that many people have conflicting views about the photos. Some believed that it was offensive, while others thought it was artistic. I was surprised at first that Beyonce did this, but then I read an article that said Beyonce saw the pictures as a tribute to her African roots. When it was described like this, then I don't see a huge problem with the pictures. However I do understand why people may be offended by these photos. They do seem to maintain and uphold a certain stereotype, which is typically never good. It also made me think about if a white person was to have taken these photos, it would be such a bigger deal, and most likely cause major problems. All in all I don't think Beyonce had bad intentions in taking these photos. She may have been incensitive to the fact that some people would be offended by them, however in her line of work, you can never please everybody.
Brigit May, Post 8
This is such an interesting and provocative question to think about. I will throw another question into the mix to perhaps complicate this discussion. Can we make an questions between the way Beyonce is portrayed in these photographs and the way Sara Baartman was exhibited as a freak? What might such a comparison help us to clarify about these images?
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