Albinism is captured in a photo exhibition by Jacquelyn Martin, on show at the Nairobi National Museum.

Jacquelyn, 37, is a photographer with the Associated Press of Washington, DC. When not on official duty, she does private photography assignments; one such was a trip to a care centre for albinos in Tanzania in 2012.

The result was a photo collection called Tribe of Ghosts. Her collection was featured in The Art Program of the World Bank in 2015, as part of a campaign against the killing of albinos.

Albinism, a widely misunderstood phenomenon, is a genetic condition caused by the absence of skin pigmentation. With their pale skin, pink eyes and blonde hair, albinos are frequently discriminated against, harassed or subjected to cultural taboos.

Some albinos live in fear for their lives because their body parts are believed to have supernatural powers for use in divination and healing. Concern for the safety of people with albinism prompted the Tanzanian government to create safe houses.

Jacquelyn’s portraits are focused, not overly sentimental, and tell the unfortunate story of albinism in Africa. Yonge shows a young girl sitting on a table and facing a window. She was abandoned by her family at the centre and awaits possible adoption.

In Surrogate, an albino girl carries a sleeping albino baby on her back, the two of them swaddled in a kanga cloth. In another photo, a group of albino children are larking about in a dormitory.

Angel at the Market is a photo of a fabric vendor who studiously avoids looking at Angel Salvatory, an albino. When Angel was 13, her father hired thugs to attack her and harvest her body parts. She survived the attack, but later developed skin cancer and died in 2013.

A Long Road features photographs by Cora Portais, a Senegalese French photographer. In Brothers, Portais captures an eight-year old albino boy sitting in the shade with normal-skin boys. The photo label says the boy has never been to school, and had an allergic reaction to the sunscreen his family had saved up to buy for him.

The 20-year old albino woman in Stories of Skin graduated from high school, but lost her dream to become a doctor because of poor eyesight. She continues to advocate for education among people with albinism.