Bias towards white models in competitions

Jeremy Guest to be fair Debbie was on the money. Literally.

Never come between a cynical woman and her paycheck 😏

That's a very specific starter demographic , i'll have a look who's under that demo and see if i can win a competition with any .worth a go

I would hate to think that the OP is butt-hurt at not winning competitions even though he is certain that his entries were the absolute best and, being unable to fathom any possible reason for all these clear miscarriages of justice, he has resorted to blaming it all on the race(s) of the models involved. I would find that surprising and disappointing.

More generally speaking it is always worth remembering that:

a) Correlation does not equal causation

2) The competitions, and their results, should never be taken seriously

d) Most users on this site will vote for any shade of 'tit', and might even follow-up with a "Wa-hey" comment

Edited by Mitch Morgan

It's totally racist.  you are a victim.  black model pictures matter.  I am an ally.  Please award me my virtue points for having the correct point of view.  Ireland, I conform to your mandated thought standards, please don't arrest me when I come visit.  That being said, please now vote for my picture with a black model because I have not won a thing despite my deserving status.  It certainly is not my amateurish effort...

https://purpleport.com/portfolio/dino3000/image/7926430/photographer

Edited by Dino.3000

I’m lucky enough to have 25 FPIs (thank you all those that voted for me). Of those two are with Gift one of the nicest people I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

The ratio of models of colour is low on Purpleport although recently I’ve noted more joining and I’ve worked this year with IAmCally who is such as happy go lucky Caribbean model you cannot help but smile when she is in the room.

Statistically I don’t know if white models fair better but look past colour and think about how the model can work in your shoot and if your ideas & execution with the model work I see no reason why colour is a bar for an FPI.

Personally I don’t think competitions are a diversity  tick box it’s about people voting for images that they like and think they deserves their vote. Up your game and you may do better!

Does the OP have the stats to back up the claim??

I couldn’t care two hoots what colour, gender, ethnicity or any other descriptor a model is. If I see the photo and like it, I’ll vote accordingly!

For what it's worth I have had a hunch for some time that my black models, whether in competitions or general uploads, get less loves or votes than the white girls. I have no statistics to back that up though. 

It was sad but at one time a black girl called Kemi said to me she was surprised I wanted to photograph her because she was black. I got her trust and after that lots of her friends came down from Ilford, Romford, Chadwell Heath etc. In those days there were virtually no black girls in Braintree. This was probably late 90's.

StudioBob

If you have numbers it is observation, otherwise impression.

What would you like done?

StudioBob said

My observation is that white models seem to get considerably more votes in Purpleport competitions than Afro-Caribbean ones and other non-white models. I find this surprising and disappointing.

It is interesting that after your 'observation' lots of people jump in to dismiss it, using their usual tactics of belittlement, mockery etc. 

Kirk Schwarz said

Don't follow them, don't know the facts. But, there is a massive skew in the demographics. The vast majority of models on this site are white (I'd love ore diversity close to me, believe me), which I imagine would mean the vast majority of competition submissions are also of white models thus increasing their likelihood of winning dramatically. 

One to consider. 

Edit:

Just looked at the past three competitions.

91 entries, 4 non white.
86 entries, 4 non white
162 entries, 6 non white

And, from that small subset, the entries weren't good enough to win.

Again, could be totally wrong and there is something afoot, but with that level of skew, it would be impossible to say. Also, the winning photo is rarely the best photo - there's an element of subjective voting.

Edited by Kirk Schwarz

Statistically, with those figures, a non white winner would be very unlikely.

How long will this thread run before it gets binned I wonder? 

Gothic Image said

How long will this thread run before it gets binned I wonder? 

My first comment was already buried - not happy enough for the community.

Just tried to point out that the reason was much simpler - and much less sinister than implied racism based on skin color.