Damilola Onafuwa is a visual artist specialising in the field of documentary photography. He recently held a week-long exhibition, his first solo; a collection of photographs of persons with albinism with the theme “Angels Among Men.” He spoke to our Assistant Editor, CHINWE MADUAGWU, on what inspired the collection.
TNE: Is this your first exhibition or have you had others before this?
This is my first solo exhibition.
TNE: What inspired the collection?
You can say that it’s a bit of nostalgia as well as curiosity. When I was younger, nobody ever talked about albinism, nobody ever explained it. You just see someone that is different from you and then everyone is bulling them so you just join in and bully; you feel they are outcasts. That is what it was like for me as a child, and most of these things we didn’t question; we didn’t ask why this person was different.
When I grew a bit older, I joined a mathematics tutorial and met a young lady dating a man with albinism. That got me thinking. I started asking questions of myself, trying to understand albinos and albinism. I was like what’s the difference me who was a bully as a child and this lady who had decided to spend the rest of her life with this man; there must be something about these two people, so I wanted to explore the difference. What do people who stigmatize, who bully, who discriminate against albinos not understand and what do people who do not do it understand?
I started to ask questions; what is the condition about, why does somebody come as an albino and another come dark skinned? That was when I met a number of people with albinism who eventually became my friends. I had conservations with them, we spoke about their challenges and how they lived through all the obstacles of years past and that was when I started taking photos of the people I was having these conversations with.
TNE: So at the end of the day, what is the message of the exhibition?
The message is that all men are created equal. Irrespective of our skin colour, our race or gender all men are created equal and everybody should treat the other person as such. I am hoping that perhaps when I’m done with the project more people can start seeing things differently because I saw things differently when I was talking to those people with albinism. There were a lot of myths associated with their conditions that having met them got debunked for me. That’s my message.
TNE: What exactly are you saying with the title, “Angels Among Men”?
A lot of people have questioned me about the title wondering whether I want to make albinos look superior. But that’s not what I plan to do. I chose the name “Angels Among Men” because it goes beyond albinism. There’s a stereotypical mindset that a lot of people carry; people from other races, about other cultures, about people with different skin colours, but then there are people who live beyond this stereotypical judgment saying regardless of what colour you are, you are human first of all. Those are the people I have referred to as “Angels Among Men”; people who have decided to live beyond stereotype, people who have decided to live beyond judgment. These are the people I call the angels.
Read also: Body parts of Albino will not make anybody rich -Majaro
TNE: It’s not like you’re referring to people with albinism as the angels? Because when one hears the title and see the photographs that would be the first thought that comes up.
No I’m not; I’ve tried as much as possible to tell people not to look at it that way too. In as much as I want to dignify these guys, I simply want to present them so that you can see they’re as human as you are. I want you to get to that point where you’re like an angel among men, where you decide that this person is as human as I am, where you come to accept that it doesn’t matter what colour you are; then you leave that box that men have created and you become an angel among men.
TNE: How long did the project take you from start to finish?
I haven’t finished the project. It is something that I’ll continue to do; it’s an on-going project for me and I’m going to continue doing it until I get tired. However, from the beginning of this project to the exhibition is about three years.
TNE: What was the response to the exhibition like?
For the opening the turnout was incredible. I did not expect it. People turned out in their numbers; I got lots of messages from people. Despite the fact that it rained in the morning of the opening, people still turned up in their numbers, and after the opening people still kept on coming to check out the work and the turnout was incredible, it went beyond my imagination.
Following the exhibition, a lot of people said to me things like; I never actually saw these people in this light before, now I see them differently, now maybe I’ll say hello to the albino guy in my office tomorrow, maybe I will start a conversation with this guy, maybe I will not be so judgmental anymore, it’s amazing. Also, to buttress that point, I made a book from this body of work equally titled “Angels Among Men” that even after the exhibition will be a reference. It will still be there for people to look at and say ‘oh yes, this guy did something nice and people can learn from the stories of these people.’ I also plan to have the exhibition in other countries in Africa.
TNE: You said you got to meet a lot of people with albinism and some of them became your friends and you’ve heard things and myths about them, can you share some of the things you’ve heard and learnt about them?
First, let me start with the myths; when we were young we used to say ‘afin o je yan’ it means that people living with albinism don’t eat salt, we used to say they don’t see during the day, they only see at nights. I found out that those things were not true because some of my friends living with albinism drive, and they drive during the day. Many of them eat with their families and their families would not say because they do not eat salt we won’t eat salt too, everybody eats the same thing.
I learnt that these things (myths) are just peoples’ way of being funny and also I learnt that with their condition, because of the lack of melanin in their eyes, sometimes they have to get really close to something before they can read it, it doesn’t mean that they don’t see in the afternoon. Also, I learnt that when you’re an albino, it doesn’t mean that you’ll give birth to an albino, you can give birth to normally pigmented children.
I’m surprised at the level of intelligence that you find in many of them, in spite of all the stigma and everything, many of them still go ahead and achieve a lot of things, it’s really inspiring to me. Having been inspired and educated, I also want to transfer that same energy to other people, even though a lot of people still struggle with the issue.
Recently, a friend of mine living with albinism wanted to get married to a dark-skinned girl who had been his girlfriend for a while but then when he made his intentions known to her parents they refused to give their consent, insisting their daughter would not get married to an albino. Both of them were heartbroken and they’re still suffering from it till today. But I feel that if that’s the choice of your daughter then why say no?
TNE: You’ve been in the art world for a while now, how do you see the reception of art in the country?
Art generally is beginning to gain grounds in Nigeria, even though in comparison with other countries especially in the western world, it’s still not as accepted, but gradually, I feel like it’s a journey that we’re on and day by day, year by year we are gradually approaching that level. It is more difficult though to accept photography than it is to accept art, by art I mean painting; but in my own opinion everything is art. Art is the expression of opinion, if photography is how I can express my opinion, if that is how I can start conversations, if that is how I can change narratives, then I believe that it is worth it. We’re not there yet but I believe we’re heading toward that direction and we will get there.
TNE: What is the most important thing your relating with albinos has taught you?
It has taught me to not judge a book by its cover. Well, I usually don’t judge a book by its cover, but I’ve re- learnt not to judge a book by its cover.
