The portraits of Icelandic photographer Sigga Ella have received enormous attention in the past few weeks, being featured by numerous international media outlets. The photographs feature women with the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which results, among other things, in unpredictable hair loss. In some cases the disorder leads to complete loss of all body hair.
Fighting stereotypes and prejudice
Sigga Ella tells local newspaper Fréttablaðið that her goal was to raise awareness of alopecia, and to fight stereotypes and prejudice. She is particularly pleased that after Huffington post published her photographs a conversation opened up about the disorder and that she is happy her photographs can help empower people:
„I get a lot of mail from people who thank me for drawing attention to the disorder in this manner, and at the same time there has opened up a conversation about the disorder in the comments section, where people with alopecia chat with one another, which is extremely important and valuable.“
The photographs are made in cooperation with Baldvin, an association of people with Alopecia in Iceland. The association approached her with a request to raise awareness of the disorder.
Capturing beauty and diversity
The photographs of Sigga Ella of have previously received worldwide attention. Her project First and Foremost I Am, which documents people with Down Syndrome, was for example featured on CNN and in the Daily Mail. Sigga Ella tells Fréttablaðið that the First and Foremost I Am project was actually made after the Baldvin project, although they caught international attention in a different order.
The various projects of Sigga Ella can be viewed on her website.
The portraits of Icelandic photographer Sigga Ella have received enormous attention in the past few weeks, being featured by numerous international media outlets. The photographs feature women with the autoimmune disorder alopecia, which results, among other things, in unpredictable hair loss. In some cases the disorder leads to complete loss of all body hair.
Fighting stereotypes and prejudice
Sigga Ella tells local newspaper Fréttablaðið that her goal was to raise awareness of alopecia, and to fight stereotypes and prejudice. She is particularly pleased that after Huffington post published her photographs a conversation opened up about the disorder and that she is happy her photographs can help empower people:
„I get a lot of mail from people who thank me for drawing attention to the disorder in this manner, and at the same time there has opened up a conversation about the disorder in the comments section, where people with alopecia chat with one another, which is extremely important and valuable.“
The photographs are made in cooperation with Baldvin, an association of people with Alopecia in Iceland. The association approached her with a request to raise awareness of the disorder.
Capturing beauty and diversity
The photographs of Sigga Ella of have previously received worldwide attention. Her project First and Foremost I Am, which documents people with Down Syndrome, was for example featured on CNN and in the Daily Mail. Sigga Ella tells Fréttablaðið that the First and Foremost I Am project was actually made after the Baldvin project, although they caught international attention in a different order.
The various projects of Sigga Ella can be viewed on her website.
