Trompe l’Oeil: Black Leader

“Trompe l’Oeil: Black Leader,” points to the problematic history of capturing non-white skin complexions on film and the use of mostly white “Leader Ladies” or “China Girls,” whose faces appear next to Kodak color charts at the start of films to help the lab technicians adjust the overall color settings. Inspired by her discovery that porcelain dolls or mannequins had been used prior to the adoption of live models, Archer’s dolls, ceramics, and other collected items are positioned next to a variety of actual color charts that have been used over the decades. The length of “Trompe l’Oeil: Black Leader” is equivalent to that of a single roll of uncut film and has purposefully not been “color corrected.” [Overview Courtesy of Microscope Gallery]