Pakistani photographer under fire for ‘mocking’ vitiligo skin condition via photoshoot

Lux Style Awards-nominated fashion photographer Najam Mahmood received online criticism over his latest photoshoot, titled Sky and the Soul, in which model Maham Ali faked a rare skin condition called vitiligo with makeup.

For those unaware, Vitiligo is a skin condition caused by an immune system disorder that causes skin patches to lose pigment. It can affect any area of the skin but it mostly happens on the face, hands, and neck.

Mahmood’s photos from the shoot garnered backlash for showing a model wearing makeup that looked like vitiligo. Reason being, that many social media users claim he could have simply taken a vitiligo model instead of painting dark and light patches on a model who did not have the skin condition.

One Instagram user slammed Mahmood by writing, “This would have [been] justified and brought awareness if the model actually had vitiligo. People who actually have this condition didn’t face criticism, bullying, and depression since their childhood for you to come here and draw this on a person who doesn’t even have the condition. This is simply pathetic and embarrassing. Do better!”

However, Mahmood justified not taking an actual model who has vitiligo for the shoot, he said, “Historically, human beings have been reluctant to accept and assimilate with [their] physically and mentally challenged fellow beings, except some prudent minds. It’s all about perception to look at a half-filled water glass as half empty.”

He continued, “I believe that leucoderma patients have the same rights to life and liberty as available to any other person having white or black complexion. Instead of rejecting or disliking [them], such people should be given the confidence to face society with equal dignity. This is the sole noble reason behind my project. The rest of [the] endless negativity belongs to those keyboard warriors who are only interested in the half emptiness of the glass.”

He also added, “What if I had chosen a patient instead of a model and someone had said [that] you are making fun of such people by projecting their disease? The thing is, we have no option to [place] good words in someone’s mouth. What we can do is be clear about our goals. We neither have any availability of vitiligo models nor usually [is] any patient with the disease willing to act as [the] model.”

The photographer concluded, “For heaven’s sake, [consider] the concept as [one] to help the patients rather than becoming a self-proclaimed caring soul. May we all be guided by truth and humanity beyond our fake beliefs coming out of negativity.”