So, on Monday I did my very first “Monday Muse” column, and used it as an opportunity to gush over Issa Rae of Insecure and how the show uses makeup as a new way for the show’s audience to gain insight into the character.  If you haven’t read it yet, why, here is a lovely little link for you!

Now that you’ve read it (or if you already had when it was posted – thanks, by the way!), you’ll know that a large part of my musings was based on her magnificent glow.

I stated then that I don’t know where it came from, but . . . we have an answer!
Today I was scrolling through Twitter and found a fabulous tweet that included a video from Mic.com about the lighting on Insecure and how it’s used to highlight, magnify, and gorgeous-ify (it’s a word, trust me) the actors’ skin.  And, yes, there are slightly other elements involved, but this very brief history behind lighting darker skin tones is incredible.  I can’t believe just a short, two minute video managed to be so utterly informative (and contains such outrageous history) – AND inspiring. Of course, as a white woman I’ve obviously taken for granted the idea of lighting/photographic “baselines,” but I’m glad to receive this education.  Here it is!

.@HBO's Insecure has mastered the cinematographic art of properly lighting black faces #HBOInsecure pic.twitter.com/LdHH7oJDf5

— Mic (@mic) September 11, 2017

If you were so totally engrossed in the film that that cinematographer’s name slipped your mind, it’s Ava Berkofsky.  Her name there is linked to her website, which I will be fawning over for hours.  In addition, I should have mentioned Issa Rae’s makeup artist, Joanna Simkin (whose page is also linked).

As if I didn’t need to be even more gushy about Insecure and the style of it – both makeup-wise AND cinematic-wise, as the entire show is gorgeous – it’s even more of a part of history and change than I had first realized.   (And I still haven’t watched the finale, shush!)