Lifestyle
Beauty of Diversity: Meet twins Lara and Mara aspiring models with albinism
You may have seen these pictures of two young girls with albinism with their hair attached to each other but do you know who they are. The twins are part of photographer Vinicius Terranova’s project Flores Raras (Rare flowers), which seeks to celebrate the power of diversity.
When photographer Vinicius Terranova started his photography project Flores Raras (Rare flowers) he didn’t know he would come across rare flowers indeed. Terranova, a Swiss photographer who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil wanted to celebrate the beauty of diversity through his project. The 26 year-old photographer had been working with young models, seeking new models when he came across Lara and Mara Bawar, two twins girls with albinism in a video.
Vinicius was quoted by the Daily Mail UK saying, “I came across the models in a video. They are incredibly beautiful and talented and that’s why I wanted to work with them. They are self-confident, intelligent and work very well.”
Read: Thando Hopa: Albinism vs idealised beauty
The Sao Paulo based photographer added, “A beauty that is not that uncommon but rather rarely perceived while out there every day, ready to be noticed and given its deserved spotlight. A plea to the power of diversity, it represents the encounter of their sublime beauty.”
Lara and Mara are aspiring models and also dream of pursuing careers in acting. Their beautiful images have caused quite a stir on the internet. The most popular image is of the two of them attached to each other with a braid from their hair. It is not just an image that depicts beauty, but creates more of an image of spirituality. Two souls, in one womb, come together. As if the energy of one flows into the other.
São Paulo-based artist Vinicius Terranova portrays real stories in a provocative atmosphere. He explores the line between the real and the surreal, by contrasting different symbols and cultures. Terranova is particularly interested in the disruption of conventions of beauty and social standards. vterranova.com
Photo: Instagram/@lara_mara_sheila
The twins who have an older sister, Sheila who doesn’t have albinism, have been signed by brands such as Nike, Isnasis, and Baazar Kids. The 11 year-old twins had something to say about their albinism.
“We feel albinism is pretty, we love our hair, eye colour and skin tone. Our hair and skin tone are pretty and we feel very special wearing the make-up, hair and light that are worked to fit us.” Lara said.
Mara added that, “Growing up like this was amazing, we love being different and are happy with our unique beauty.”
Sheila who was also signed to model alongside her sisters said, “We love it. We are very expressive and creative. It feels wonderful to put this out there, to communicate with people who identify our work. We like to see our beauty being valued by its unique aspects.”
Read: South African model with albinism, Thando Hopa is the new face of Audi Q2
In an interview with Metal Magazine, Terranova said of his project:
“Flores Raras literally translates to rare flowers. The project consists of a portraits set I’m gathering of people whose beauty is often marginalized. My point is to analyze how being uncommon is far from being negative. Actually, when you possess a different –therefore rare– trait, this feature makes you more beautiful and special, never less”.
“I launched the project portraying three black sisters, two of them being albino twins. Their love for each other is visible, their beauty is complementary in every single way and their differences coexist in harmony just like it should be every way in society.”
Terranova’s images have gone viral.
Albinism is still an issue that’s being tackled globally, and particularly on the continent where people with albinism have suffered from stigma to physical attacks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKZPsJcBkDR/?taken-by=lara_mara_sheila&hl=en
