Albinos through the eyes of a photographer

Social injustices: Albinos through the eyes of a photographer

Ras Elihu is a photographer who exhibited at the just ended Social Media Week at the Accra Mall.

Elihu, who’s also a former substance abuser says this project comes off on the back of #BlackLivesMatter where hashtags as #MelaninPopping were trending on social media.

According to him, after rehabilitation, he had wanted to focus on marginalized groups of people have suffered some level of discrimination himself while he was abusing drugs.

His exhibition focuses on some myths around albinos.

In his words: “…I stand with the few who fight against the powers that be.

These powers though mostly invisible are woven into our everyday lives and endeavors. The media remains the biggest culprit, and theories like the hypodermic needle theory show the power of the media to influence.

Society is lost in these falsehoods.

As an individual who has always been considered a misfit, this project, a first of its kind from me, seeks to embrace this “misfit” tag to fight an aspect of society which is common to us all. DISCRIMINATION.

It seeks to reopen the conversation on gender and our perception of masculinity. What a man is supposed to be, look or act like.

It examines the male body in its natural form devoid of societal constructs and ideologies.

MLK gave us his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech, and we all cheered and continue to re-echo it now and then. He preached against segregation by race. Many years down the line we are shamefully faced with this same segregation, this time along the lines of pigmentation.

They are ridiculed and suspected of having spiritual powers. They are believed to not age or die and that, parts of their bodies wield powers. They are hunted like a game in parts of the world by thoughtless people who will stop at nothing to realize their selfish gain.

Strange as their skin may seem, they are no less black or more white than us. When I look at them, I only see humans with a different complexion complex sheen than mine.

This project is dear to me and is the beginning of my quest to tackle the phenomenon of discrimination.

This series is a first out of a bigger narrative. There will be other pieces that deal with other forms of discrimination.

This series was initially conceptualized during the earlier stages of the black lives matter movement when the writer began to question west African responses to the racially motivated executions of our brothers and sisters within the diaspora.

It became evident that even though we, as Africans on the continent were relating to these issues there was a disconnect because it wasn’t our actual reality. The photographer sought to bridge this gap by looking at this issue within the African setting.

Melanin gained a lot of popularity around this period, especially on social media. Albinos have no melanin which led to the photographer to explore society’s perception of albinism, and the discrimination albinos face due to the difference in their skin.

The killings of our brethren in the west because of the melanin in their skin was happening here. This time we “melanin-filled” brethren are killing our “white “ (melanin deficient brethren).

Alas! We turned on one another, the reverse of what we were crying against (#blacklivesmatter) unfolds right before our eyes.

You do not only kill an individual by shooting him or stabbing him, but with our words and actions, we have killed many through the canker of discrimination.

By: Roberta Abbeyquaye/citinewsroom.com/Ghana

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