The 45-year-old Mariagiovanna from Milan is one of the people with Vitiligo who is committed to the photographer’s ongoing project Rosa Mariniello had a portrait taken. She brings people with white spot disease to her camera worldwide.
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“I got the first stains as a small child, I don’t remember them exactly. But I still remember that I never suffered much because it seemed pretty natural to me as a child. Of course there were always some among the children who said something bad to me. Even later, there were always looks or people who asked me indiscreet questions.
My approach has always been to explain to people what vitiligo is, to tell them that it is not an infectious disease. The eyes have become less, perhaps also because unfortunately more and more people are affected.
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Maybe social change has something to do with the presence and success of model Winnie Harlow. When I saw her for the first time, I just thought how fantastic. Finally someone has left the tunnel. I really appreciate her. Of course there are many people with vitiligo who are beautiful, but the world of fashion was not ready for them yet. Apparently an intelligent person saw it differently and gave Harlow the space to develop and show – and now she is more famous than ever.
I refuse to see vitiligo as a disease or a disease, I don’t even know how I would define it. Of course everyone experiences vitiligo differently. After years I joined a Vitiligo Facebook group. It was only then that I found out how many people are affected by vitiligo. Some simply reject it completely, others see it as a disease in the truest sense of the word. Some hate them and suffer from them, others love them.
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There are people in the groups who have no vitiligo and suffer because they know people with vitiligo, while the person himself does not make a problem of it; or even mothers who are desperate because their child has vitiligo. I think this is wrong. It carries the risk of letting the child grow up with problems that they may not have even noticed. My mother never worried about me just because I have vitiligo. I was always treated like a normal girl by her, which I was, and grew up very normally without thinking that I have vitiligo. I was never afraid to show myself, to bare myself.
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I don’t believe in a medical cure. Even though some cures can certainly be good for the skin, they can be dangerous for the rest of the body. I do cures that are really mild. I take vitamin D, carotene preparations, homeopathic tablets. When I get Melagenina, this famous Cuban lotion, I use it. I discovered it for the first time more than 20 years ago and it helps me. Vitiligo has now reached 70 percent of my body, but when I see a dark patch on my skin, a small brown dot, it means that the lotion works, and then I’m happy.
On a medical level, I hope that doctors do not fool around with the idea that it is an illness. And people who come to them spend money unnecessarily, hoping to heal themselves as quickly as possible. There is no one hundred percent cure. Doctors should clearly state that 60 to 70 percent of those affected never focus on healing.
I took part in the photo project because I thought it was a nice idea and to share my experiences with others. I didn’t hesitate, I had known the photographer Rosa Mariniello for some time and I knew how she works. “
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