"A Population That Never Was"

A Shot from Helfman's "Historical Correction"

Picture of a White Nobleman

What photographer, Maxine Helfman, aims to do with her photographs are to make people think.  Most recently, a series of her work, "Historical Correction" which she has been shooting since 2012, has received an outcry of attention due to all the racial discrimination being brought up.  What Helfman is photographing are Flemish-style portraits, using only black models.  She is putting people of color in a style that historically was of the European elite. The models wear the same expressions and style of clothing that a 17th -century nobleman or woman would wear.

You see in these wonderful pictures they are wearing the expressions of which a nobleman would pose for a portrait to be taken or painted.  I put in a picture of a white nobleman to compare. You can see how similar the expressions and clothing are to that of which the model is posing for. They both have hard looking stares and are wearing all black with white collars.  

"Helfman wanted to create historical documentation of a population that never was." Although she is very careful to be respectful, be it another artist, or an expert for another cultural point of view. 

""I never want to create something that's tongue-in-cheek because that defeats the purpose," she said. "It's disrespectful to the (statement) I'm trying to make."

She is making people think about her work which is coming into big discussion as events like Ferguson continue to pop up.  Racial discrimination is a very relevant topic and Helfman's goal is just to get people to think, not to step on anyone's toes, but just think, and then rethink.