© Justin Dingwall & Thando Hopa, Untitled 2, 2013
M.I.A Gallery 1203 A Second Avenue Seattle 98101 WA États-Unis
M.I.A Gallery is pleased to announce Albus, the first solo exhibition dedicated to the young South African photographer, Justin Dingwall, in collaboration with Thando Hopa. The exhibition is running from January 30th till February 28th, 2014, with an opening reception on Thursday, January 30th, from 6-8pm.
Albus is a collaborative project between photographer Justin Dingwall and Thando Hopa, a fashion model and legal advisor. It explores the aesthetics of Albinism in contrast with the idealized perception of beauty. Albinism touches every ethnic group and is characterized by the insufficiency of melanin that determines skin and hair color.
Dingwall states: ‘beauty is found in all shapes, sizes and colors. It can also be colorless, which is the point being proven and celebrated through a wave of models with albinism’
His series participate in the building of awareness as well as breaking the canon of today’s beauty.
These nine transparent and delicate portraits project a sense of confidence and intimacy.
The reenacted three Mary’s approach the symbolic association of colors. Thando Hopa appears illuminant, virginal and vulnerable. The angelic representations in these photographs veil another reality.
Rejected, prejudiced and discriminated individuals suffering from albinism are likely to become targets and victims of physical attacks and mutilations. The project, Albus, reflects the ability to look inside ourselves and re-invent norms of beauty.
‘I'm a black girl who lives in the skin of a white person and that alone should embody what a human being as a whole should represent, Thando Hopa told the BBC.
Born in Johannesburg, Justin Dingwall achieved a Baccalaureus Technologies in Photography Cum Laude and exhibited in a group exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum in 2004.
In 2005, he was asked to exhibit at Wet Ink Gallery in an exhibition called “Portraying Life”. Thando Hopa 23, born in Soweto, is a rising fashion model and a full time legal prosecutor, in Johannesburg.
Albus portraits were exhibited at the Johannesburg Art fair and 1-54 Contemporary African Artfair, in London.
Justin Dingwall won the Fuji Film Awards for portraiture; his work has been published both locally and internationally.