*Two separate apologizes have been issued in response to the controversy surrounding an “African Queen” editorial for Numéro, which features 16-year-old white model Ondria Hardin painted in blackface.
Photographer Sebastian Kim, who shot the spread, has released a statement on his agency JedRoot‘s blog. He denies trying to portray a black woman in the editorial and says he was unaware of what the title of the spread would be.
He writes:
I would like to apologize for any misunderstanding around my recent photos for Numero France. It was never my intention (nor Numero’s) to portray a black woman in this story. Our idea and concept for this fashion shoot was based on 60′s characters of Talitha Getty, Verushka and Marissa Berenson with Middle Eastern and Moroccan fashion inspiration. We at no point attempted to portray an African woman by painting her skin black. We wanted a tanned and golden skin to be showcased as part of the beauty aesthetic of this shoot.
It saddens me that people would interpret this as a mockery of race. I believe that the very unfortunate title “African Queen” (which I was not aware of prior to publication) did a lot to further people’s misconceptions about these images. It was certainly never my intention to mock or offend anyone and I wholeheartedly apologize to anyone who was offended.
Sincerely,
Sebastian Kim
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reached out to Numero editors for comment and received the following statement in support of Kim’s editorial vision:
Some people have declared that they have been offended by the publication in Numéro magazine n°141 of March 2013, of an editorial realized by the photographer Sebastian Kim called “African Queen,” featuring the American model Ondria Hardin posing as an “African queen,” her skin painted in black.
The artistic statement of the photographer Sebastian Kim, author of this editorial, is in line with his previous photographic creations, which insist on the melting pot and the mix of cultures, the exact opposite of any skin color based discrimination. Numéro has always supported the artistic freedom of the talented photographers who work with the magazine to illustrate its pages, and has not took part in the creation process of this editorial.
For its part, Numéro Magazine, which has the utmost respect for this photographer’s creative work, firmly excludes that the latest may have had, at any moment, the intention to hurt readers’ sensitivity, whatever their origin.
Numéro Magazine considers that it has regularly demonstrated its deep attachment to the promotion of different skin-colored models. For instance, the next issue of Numéro for Man on sale on 15th march has the black model Fernando Cabral on the cover page, and the current Russian edition’s cover of our magazine features the black model Naomi Campbell on its cover. This demonstrates the completely inappropriate nature of the accusations made against our magazine, deeply committed to the respect for differences, tolerance and more generally to non-discrimination.
Considering the turmoil caused by this publication, the Management of Numéro Magazine would like to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this editorial
Someone is always going to be offended by something. Nothing you do is ever going to please everyone. Please people, stop apologizing every time somebody throws a tantrum because they don’t like something you do. Geeze! You could spend the rest of your lives down on your damn knees begging for forgiveness if what you’re seeking is universal approval of what you do. If you believe in what you do, do your thing. Be grateful for the support you recieve from those who appreciate your work, and dismiss the rants of those who don’t.
Now, I got what the photographer was trying to do but still, why not just hire a person of color to do the shoot? Granted, the photographer was no responsible for what the magazine wrote but I still find it disturbing. Okay, so they got two black people on two different international additions of their magazine. Great. So if their magazine is about diversity, then show it with actually bodies. Not some white model spray painted in brown paint. When is the last time anybody has seen a black model physically ‘whiten’ to portray diversity? Last year, some famous black models, for example, like Bethann Hardison, complained that the fashion industry was still lacking in black models. So again, it’s one thing to talk about diversity but it’s demonstrating it through real change.
Hire a person of color? I suppose then that the Brits should have hired a Brit, instead of Meryl Streep, to play Thatcher. Or directors should hire real thugs to play thugs. And actual teachers to play teachers.
And so forth.
We should stop being so thin-skinned and focus on the real problems plaguing the black community.
Need I list them?
A voice of reason. Thank you, Flash.
I get it as well but, I don’t see any tanned or golden skin in these shots. I’ll write it again, the white chick looks better black.
The model doesn’t really look like any of the people mentioned, she looks more like a bronze statue.
Acting and modeling are two different genres. And both have the same issues in terms of its lack of women of color in those respective industries. Just because it’s not an issue for you, that doesn’t mean it isn’t for somebody else. Why dictate to other people what is and what isn’t important? You can speak on this issue as well as other ‘important’ issues. Sheesh! And folks talking about others being thin-skinned? There are other stories on this site that folks comment on that would be considered ‘unimportant’ but nobody is accusing folks of ranting or being unreasonable.
Has Gayle morphed into another ‘new’ handle on this site?? I get so sick of non-Blacks showing up ramming their off-kilter, non-understanding views down our throats since we have little interest in going where ‘they’ are. These mofos really hate when they are not overvalued and sought after on their sites so they roll up here. It doesn’t take long to sniff them out.