Portrait Project Seeks to Document Every Human Skin Tone

Any sort of portrait photographer is intimately familiar with the huge variety of skin tones represented by us homo sapiens, but until now nobody had thought to document them all. That’s the mammoth task that Brazilian artist and photographer Angelica Dass has taken upon herself with her portrait project Humanae.

The project consists of a series of portraits (like the ones seen above) which are taken, analyzed, and arranged using the PANTONE color guide. By analyzing 11×11 pixel pieces of her sujects’ faces, she is able to find their exact alphanumeric Pantone color, label the photo, and fill the background that color.

What results is a chromatic inventory of, hopefully and eventually, every skin tone in existence — a scientific way to look at and document “colors beyond our codes.” To find out more about the project and see the massive selection of skin tones she has documented so far, be sure to check out the Humanae webpage.

Humanae (via Flavorwire)


Image credits: Photography by Angelica Dass

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