I was looking through pictures of jazz musicians and photos of many of them (Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie) look very discolored and badly taken compared to contemporary black and white photos of African Americans, whereas old pictures of white people look fine. Is there a reason for this?
This is because the color balance of the film was optimized for white people's skin. The "Shirley Card" was used by processing labs to ensure that colors were properly rendered. The mix of Red, Green, and Blue pigments addresses the way an image appears. The earlier color films were not good at maintaining good color representation in lower light conditions; this affected the skin tone of people with darker skin tones in pictures. By the 1990s, newer films were available which performed much better with lower light.
A good source is http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/2196/2055.
Could you post any pictures or where to find them?