When you enter the NWU art gallery on the Potchefstroom campus, you will immediately find a new kind of beauty. A beauty that is underrated, misunderstood and even sometimes frowned upon, but a real beauty nevertheless. This is the beauty of albinism.
Until 8 April, you will be able to view Justin Dingwall’s portrayal of beautiful albinism in his photographic works exhibited at the NWU Gallery.
Dingwall is a contemporary artist and commercial photographer who was born and grew up in Benoni. He completed his degree in photography in Pretoria, after which he moved to Johannesburg where his career as a commercial and contemporary artist began.
Dingwall started the project, Albus, in 2013 where he was asked to photograph an albino model, Thando Hopa, in order to create a modelling portfolio for her.
“I have always been fascinated by people who aren’t considered to be your normal beauty and I think, in today’s society, people have become very bored with perfection – people are more attracted to quirky beauty, now.”
In Albus, Dingwall wanted to explore the aesthetics of albinism in contrast to the idealised concepts of beauty. After photographing Thando for a few months, he found his next model, Sanele Junior Xaba and, from there, the series grew.
The discourse about albinism is generally avoided as taboo in the South African context. It is usually seen as negative or an oddity in art. Dingwall aims to establish a better understanding and clearer perspective in the myths surrounding albinism. He uses water to portray self-reflection, snakes for transformation and butterflies for beauty.
“The point was to delve deeper and have a better understanding of people who have albinism and what they go through on a day-to-day basis – their trials and their tribulations,” he says.
His work is being exhibited worldwide, in private collections as well as in museums but Potchefstroomers have until 8 April to see it for themselves.
