Kees Muizelaar – al-bi-no

According to a rough estimate, there are about 1,000 people in the Netherlands with a form of albinism.

A lot of people associate albinos with people in Africa, but in the Netherlands there are also people with this skin disorder, whereby the hair is white, the skin pale, and the eyes sometimes a little red. Both because of their eyes and their sensitive skin, albinos can hardly tolerate sunlight. They try to protect themselves against it with curtains, blinds, and by seeking out shady spots. Even then, the sunlight is often too bright. They are often troubled by eye conditions, which impedes their eyesight. Sometimes, they can only make out contours or the contrast between light and dark.

More images and other interesting projects on Kees Muizelaar’s website.

Kees Muizelaar investigates things that are already there, but most people forget to look at. The characters in his photos choose their own paths of life and sometimes live at society’s periphery: truck drivers, a never-married farmer, the inhabitants of a commune in the forest. Muizelaar’s photographs are characterized by their melancholic, almost poetic style, and a great sense of respect for their subjects.

Muizelaar graduated from the Utrecht Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. With “Himmelum”, a series about the exodus from the Frisian countryside, he had had a solo exhibition in the Frisian Historical and Literary Center “Tresoar” in Leeuwarden. The Dutch quality newspaper NRC Next published his protrait of the Dutch albino Geoffrey on its centerfold.