If there’s one rule you can bet your lunch money on it’s that putting on blackface will get you flamed. It may get you lots of hits–you’re sure to get attention, but it may not be the attention you crave. Quick-someone send a link to smntks to Boglarka Balogh before she keeps helping African woman show off their beauty to the world! The Hungarian photographer, well travelled across the continent (of Africa) wanted to bring attention to the wide diversity and beauty of African women. In order to show African’s finest she took a bunch of pictures of…herself.
Yup, that’s right. Despite having a bunch of pictures of beautiful African women, she chose instead to don blackface and mimic her photoed beauties. Slowly for those in the back–in order to show how beautiful African women are she took their style and showed picture of herself a-la-“enough about me! What about you? What do you think of me?”
This is where appreciation becomes appropriation. The women are beautiful–so just show their pictures! To assume that their beauty is only accessible when filtered through the lens of a white body is racist. While I do believe that she believes that she is showing their beauty, she is little more than a thief, knocking off their looks and turning the authentic inauthentic. Boglaka, I admire the intention–and a dope set of passport stamps–but check you ego at the door and let the true beauty of Africa that you’ve captured shine!
Not to throw shade, but duck: In a head to head match up of the women she copied, I’m sorry but Balogh loses to every one. She looks best as herself, but most def can’t best an African beauty at being, well, an
African beauty. You be the judge: who takes the cake? Weigh in in the comment below for most beautiful African.
Susan X Jane 
I never understood ‘black face’ and now ‘yellow face’ seems to be on the trend as well. There are several white actors being cast as Asian women in movies, such as Emma Stone (white girl with blond hair blue eyes and freckles) as Captain Allison Ng in the movie “Aloha” directed by Cameron Crowe, she is supposed to be 1/4-Chinese 1/4-native Hawaiian and 1/2 Swedish heritage, but it appears only the Swedish part came through and anyone who has any inkling how genetic probability works, a girl with that kind of genetic combination will RARELY look ALL Swedish, and by rare I mean 1 in 1,000,000 or less. Were there not any Asian actresses looking for work who could adequately play the part in terms of appearance and mannerisms? Emma Stone looked like a hopped up version of a valley girl in that film. There was NOTHING Asian in her mannerisms. She was a white white girl, pretending to be Asian/Hawaiian. It’s not so much offensive as absurd to look at.
I am biracial myself (Chinese/Caucasian) and I think people should just present themselves with the face they are born with, no need to paint it a different hue for a fashion statement, artistic statement or anything else. It’s racist, offensive and absurd. There are many ways to honor and appreciate another race, culture or heritage without changing the color of your skin.