ELIHU ASHONG: SKIN AS CANVAS.
By Nii B. Andrews.
There are marginalized groups all over the world and sadly, Africa has its share since the propensity to categorize the “other” appears to be part of the human condition.
The result is that marginalized individuals sometimes suffer discrimination at multiple levels.
Even worse is their limited ability to influence the social, political and economic institutions that wield so much influence over their lives.
The work of Elihu Ashong – a young Ghanaian digital artist, focuses on marginalized groups in West Africa and highlights their individuality.
Ashong in his series “COMPLEX SHEEN”, has produced images of persons with albinism – a rare genetic condition characterized by low levels of the pigment melanin in the skin, eyes and hair.
It is associated with poor vision and increased risk of injury from sunlight.
Many of these individuals in several places within Africa have been brutalized and murdered solely on account of their phenotype – or appearance.
The paradox is that while often their vision is impaired, their “complex sheen” gives them high visibility tragically to those who seek to injure them.
Yet another paradox is that the prevalence of albinism is much higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than world wide.
The “COMPLEX SHEEN” series consists of single images or portraits – sometimes with the limbs of a second subject interposed.
The photographs are rendered with minimalism in black and white.
Ashong when he focuses his camera intently on their often concealed facial features is able to transmit indelible shades of the burdened emotive expression of the subjects.
It also appears that there is a subtle eroticism to the images…especially when more than one subject is depicted.
Sometimes, the subjects look androgynous.
Ashong explains, “most of my images show subjects in their most natural settings with little retouching to their skin.
The skin is a canvas, and must not be tampered with. There’s a story to every wrinkle, blemish or scar.”
The images are often accompanied by text and perhaps this should not be surprising since Ashong has a B.A. in Communication Studies.
He has also produced photographs that focused on northern Ghana; that series is entitled “Faces of the North”.