Jeremy Tan / Photographer
New York City

White People

Throughout my time in America, I have gained a growing awareness of sweeping perceptions that have presented themselves to me in contemporary media, current events, and day-to-day social interactions.

White People is a sardonic take on the existence of racism in the present-day. By digitally whitewashing any perceivable signs of Caucasian skin, I hope to communicate the caustic effects of racial profiling through an exaggerated lampoon. The choice to alter only Caucasian skin stems from my minority status as a “person of color”, and is based on my personal experiences with the “white majority” and white culture. The pictures attempt to reconcile the immediacy of a passing glance with the pervasiveness of subconscious perceptions brought on by race and skin color.

As it stands, the existence of an “us and them” mentality in today’s society is a problem that must be tackled eventually. These images reflect a genuine effort to understand and stem our instantaneous and sometimes unintentional process of “color-coding” the world around us, and attempt to prompt a discussion on racism through a distorted and sarcastic view of white people in America.