Bronze / 2021 / Portraiture / Children

• Prize
  Bronze in Portraiture/Children
• Photographer
  Matilde Simas, United States
• Studio
  Capture Humanity
• Website
  http://www.matildesimas.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/mattie_simas/?hl=en

This series is made up of portraits of four Tanzanian child survivors of violent superstition-driven attacks and in their own words their testimonials. The children are among the nearly 7,000 Tanzanians with albinism, a hereditary condition that results in a lack of pigmentation in skin, hair, and eyes. In Tanzania, witchdoctors promote a belief in the potential magic and superstitious properties of albino body parts, and children with albinism are murdered so their skin, hair, and appendages can be used to make charms and potions believed to bring wealth, power, and good luck.

Matilde Simas is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker. She also serves as the Creative Art Director for the Limb Kind Foundation, where she combines her artistic vision and storytelling expertise to raise global awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with limb loss. With a background in psychology and women’s studies from Suffolk University and advanced training in digital photography at the Rhode Island School of Design, Matilde brings a unique perspective to her work, guided by a trauma-informed approach that emphasizes documenting dignity within vulnerable communities.