Artwork
Untitled (West Indian Women Being Measured)
Untitled (West Indian Women Being Measured) is a photography by the Impressionist artist Unknown. It dates from 1864 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Three Black women stand in a bare room, their bodies turned so a white official can measure them with calipers.
Three Black women stand in a bare room, their bodies turned so a white official can measure them with calipers. One is a child, one a young adult, one elderly.
These photos weren’t made for art. European scientists used early cameras to sort people into racial types during colonial rule. The women’s faces show no expression, but the act of measuring turns their bodies into data.
To see more images like this, look up the subject: caribbean, 19th century.
Overview
Untitled (West Indian Women Being Measured) is a photograph depicting three Black women of different ages being measured with calipers by a white official in a bare room.
Subject & Meaning
The image shows a child, a young adult, and an elderly woman, their bodies positioned to facilitate measurement, effectively transforming them into data points for scientific study.
Technique & Style
The photograph is characterized by its straightforward and unadorned style, reflecting its purpose as a tool for scientific observation rather than artistic expression.
Context
The image was created during the 19th century, a period of colonial occupation, and is associated with the use of photography by European scientists to categorize and study different racial and ethnic types.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
