Light and Colour: What We Really See
When we look at the world, we often think that dark colours mean an absence of light, and bright colours mean lots of it. But in reality, the opposite is true. The colour of anything we see — a wall, a T-shirt, or skin — is determined by how it interacts with light.
Objects that appear light or white to our eyes are actually reflecting most of the light that hits them. The light waves — also known as photons — bounce off the surface and come straight back into our eyes. That’s why the object looks bright or pale. Very little of the light is actually absorbed.
Now flip that around. If an object appears dark (e.g. brown or black) this is because it absorbs most or all of the light it receives. The photons don’t bounce back. Instead, they’re taken in by the material. That’s why so little light returns to our eyes, making the object appear dark:
Melanin and the Science of Skin
This brings us to skin, and specifically Black and brown skin. The more eumelanin a person has in their skin — eumelanin being the powerful molecule responsible for deep brown and black tones — the more light that skin absorbs.
Eumelanin is found in the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, and it has a unique ability to absorb a wide range of light. It’s especially effective at soaking up ultraviolet (UV) light, but it also absorbs violet, blue, and other high-energy wavelengths. That means that dark skin, rich in eumelanin, is actively receiving and absorbing light all day, every day.
And here’s the amazing part: eumelanin doesn’t just absorb light — it transforms it. Much of that light energy is safely converted into heat and released. This happens maybe billions of times per second in billions of skin cells, every day!
Full of Light, Not Lacking It
So, when we say that dark skin is “full of light”, we’re not being poetic — we’re being scientific. Black and brown skin absorbs and processes light constantly. It’s doing important work, turning electromagnetic energy into useful forms.
In contrast, very light-coloured skin reflects most light and absorbs very little. To our eyes, it may look bright, but in reality, less light is being held within it.
Understanding this flips the old assumptions. Dark skin doesn’t hide from the light. It interacts with it deeply, intelligently, and powerfully.
