photography 2023-25
The installation Chromatic Society consists of three photographic reproductions based on calibration charts produced by Kodak for Adobe, illuminated using Lee colour filters. Initially, colour photography enabled realistic reproduction of skin colour only in white users, as thatgroup predominated as the target customer of the technology. Problems with capturing darker skin tones both hampered representation of non-white people and reinforced the visual hegemony of whiteness in visual culture. It was not until the 1990s that Kodak developed a technology that allowed for more accurate rendering of various skin tones.
The reproductions are accompanied by laboratory flasks filled with dyed starch, a material used in early colour photography techniques. The autochrome process, involving potato starch, exemplifieshow the dependence on global raw material chains and colonial systems not only translated into what was photographed, but reflected in the technologies and materials used for that purpose.The installation is complemented by a flower bed with sprouting potatoes—plants whose history is inextricably linked to colonial conquests, but also to reproductive labour and the very history of photography itself. Companies such as Kodak shaped the development of photography, but simultaneously contributed to social expectations of women and their image. Women were not only users of photography, but also featured as its theme. In the advertising material and on the products themselves—such as grey cards—Kodak’s woman was young, white and smiling. The artist creates a photomontage, replacing the model’s portrayal with her own face, subjecting her own image to a critical assessment in the light of normative standards of femininity.While analyzing the development of photography, Dorota Walentynowicz examines the condition of women and the society. The stories from banal leaflets or imagery from photographic products inspire her to take a critical look at the history of women’s emancipation and social standing. Delving into the echoes of the past, the artist discovers links with the contemporary condition of the world, where the erstwhile sentiments clearly recur, revealing hidden inequalities and problematic patterns. It may be well worth reflecting on what, how and thanks to which corporations we photograph today. (Gabi Skrzypczak)
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