Portraits of Women with Alopecia Redefine Femininity

With stark and stripped down images that demonstrate the power of portraiture, one Icelandic photographer has captured the beauty of bald women.

“Baldvin” is a new series by photographer Sigga Ella, featuring portraits of women of all ages who have alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that results in unpredictable hair loss. In some cases, the disorder can lead to complete hair loss on the scalp and body.

The project was done in collaboration with the Baldvin (which means strength) association in Iceland, in effort to spread awareness about alopecia and “open up the discussion and work against these gender stereotypes,” according to Ella’s artist’s statement.

Ella says the photo series presented the opportunity to push against the stereotype that women can only be beautiful if they have long hair. “All of the women [in the series] wanted people to get to know more about their condition, and so it was important for the photos to show them just as they are,” she told The Huffington Post by email.

Highlighting the beauty of underrepresented people is an ongoing theme in Ella’s work, including exhibition called “First and Foremost I Am,” a portrait series featuring people with Down Syndrome from ages 9 months to 60 years old.

Read more from the article on Huffington Post article by Zeba Blay here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/women-with-alopecia-redefine-femininity_n_7687418.html

Read more from the photographer and see the entire Baldvin photo collection here: 

https://siggaella.com/projects/baldvin/