Photographer Justin Dingwall and aspiring South African model Moostapha Saidi teamed up for a photo project Dingwall dubbed “A Seat at the Table.” The idea for the project came to the photographer after meeting Saidi who has vitiligo, a disease that causes the loss of skin color in patches. The two had a frank conversation about how uncomfortable the young man was with people constantly staring at his unusual coloring, but the photographer convinced him to try and celebrate it rather than being ashamed by it.

“Vitiligo is a topic that I did not know much about and I am always interested to expand my world through my art and learn about something that is not seen as ‘usual.’ I decided to create a body of work that engages with this topic on a much deeper level, and that raises questions about perspective, as well as how the media and representations subjectively perceive the world and other people.”

Justin Dingwall

Thanks in part to Dingwall’s photo project, Saidi’s dream of being a model has been realized. The young man recently signed with one of the top modeling agencies in South Africa, and the combination of his talent, his newfound confidence, and his distinctive look has made him much in demand.

You can see more of the project on Justin Dingwall’s Instagram.

All images property of Justin Dingwall.