This photo series was created in collaboration with the Josephat Torner Foundation to raise awareness about the circumstances of people with albinism living in Tanzania.
In Tanzania, when you have albinism, you are thought to be evil. There even is a price on the head of children with albinism since killing a person with albinism is considered to bring good luck. The fears and superstitions surrounding albinism run very deep in Tanzanian society. So deep that many women who give birth to a child with albinism are told to kill the baby at birth. If she refuses, she and the baby will become outcasts.
Many children with albinism are denied the most fundamental of human rights. They are despised and taught that they are evil.
Because of the killings, many children with albinism live in camps. Rejected by their families, they are secluded, kept apart, hidden, often mistreated and shamed.
After finishing her MBA, Marinka's studies in Buddhist Psychology guided her philosophical journey, and the Photo Academy in Amsterdam stimulated her to channel her concepts and feelings into images.
Gender equality is a main theme running through Marinka’s work. She feels strongly about the importance of raising this subject and she just returned from Iran where she worked on two photography projects concerning the position of women.
Marinka's acclaim includes: Lucie Award - IPA Photographer of the Year 2016 - LensCulture Portrait Awards 2017, Winner Juror's Pick - 10th Annual Color Awards 'Photographer of the Year', 2nd place - 1st place winner Color Awards - 2x Silver and 2x Bronze at TIFA Tokyo Awards 2016 - LifeFramer 3rd place - 2nd place ND Awards 2016 - 2x winner 1st place IPA 2016 - 2x winner 2nd place IPA 2016 - Exhibition at Gallery 'Beeldend Gesproken', Amsterdam - 2x Silver winner and 1x Bronze winner Px3 2016 - Px3 Exhibition in Paris - 1st place Monochrome Photography Awards - Exhibition at Atelier Alen, Munich, Germany - Featured at ArtWest, Amsterdam - 2x winner 2nd place MIFA "Moscow International Foto Awards" 2015 - 2nd place BW SpiderAwards - Merit of Excellence - "IPA Best of Show Exhibition" New York - 2x winner 2nd place IPA "International Photography Awards" 2015 - Gold winner at Px3 2015 - 3x Silver and 1x Bronze winner at Px3 2015 - Exhibition at WM Gallery, Amsterdam - Photoville 2015 New York - International Photo Festival Leiden 2015 - 1st place International Color Awards - Featured at the Royal Geographical Society in London - IPA 2014 2nd place - Linden Museum Stuttgart - GUP New Dutch Talent 2014
Awards New Dutch Talent 2014
Exhibition Linden Museum Stuttgart, Germany- June 2014
Published 1x.com Yearbook Passion - Dec 2013
3 times shortlisted TPOTY Travel Photographer of the Year 2013
2nd Prize Photographer of the Year 2013, Zoom Magazine
