Although I do not have vitiligo myself someone very dear and very close to me does. She's a wonderful, strong-spirited woman who taught me a great many thing about life; an inspiration and a hero of mine as far back as I can remember. Her strength has propelled me to do my part and bring a greater awareness of vitiligo, and I'm seeking participants who'd like to be included. More info is on my profile page. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks and be well.
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Hi all. Just a quick note to say that I will be traveling to different parts of the country in the coming weeks to shoot portraits for my project which I started back in 2009. If interested in participating, feel free to send me a message for more information and I'll reply to you individually. I'm in the process of seeing who is interested and which part of the country to travel first.
Your cause is very noble and I am impressed. However, what exactly are participants expected to do? Have you done this kind of project before? If so, where can we see another example?
Also, I hate to play the role of the Vitiligo Friend's cybersleuth, but I just checked out the site that you posted on your page and also the picture slide show. I thought that the slide show contained very amazing photos.
I could tell who the owner of the site was but how do I know that you are actually Bill Kotsatos? Just Googled you and did not find pictures or online profiles of you anywhere. Not trying to be disrespectful, only cautious.
There was also no business address, customer testimonials, copyright notices and none of the other things that commercial business web sites usually have, can you explain why?
Hi Nelly,
Thanks for your nice words. I'm about to board a flight but want to address your questions so excuse me in advance for zipping through 'em. As far as participation goes all a subject need do is agree to be shot. (Check out my profile page I talk about it there). This is my first vitiligo photo project. This is in fact me. I haven't gotten into social networking all that much. My site isn't a commercial biz website. It's a portfolio. Hopefully this helps. Also, I will be working on this project for the next few days so if you or anyone else in the NY area is interested, let me know. The response has been overwhelming!
Bill: Thanks for your special efforts to promote the awareness, Good Luck. We need 100 people like you in every city. How can we share our emotional experience. Via email or reply back to you in this forum ? We went thru quite a bit emotionally. Fortunately, that has changed ever since I ran into this website. Thanks to Steve and Nathalie and all of the members. This site has been a tremendous source of inspiration and moral support. I always think of a comment or point raised by a member, wen I need to deal with emotional side. The best kept secret of this site is the simple mesage it conveys every day, "you are NOT alone" in this journey. That is a courage to me. As simple as that. I decided to spend my future retirement life spreading and promoting the awareness of this condition.
Also, pl make sure to include the opinion of some Doctors. Because, there are several doctors who were able to treat or reverse, V successfully, atleast in the initial stages. .
Thanks for the question SeeMore! First and foremost I'm a visual storyteller, drawn to subject matter that has the propensity to spark dialogue about one's struggle; physical, emotional or both. Having been raised by someone who took her vitiligo in stride, often times I would see vulnerability emerge; the moment before having to enter a crowded banquet hall, while addressing a classroom full of 8th graders, or even meeting neighbors of a tight-knit, rural community for the first time.
Granted there are may ways to spark said dialogue but it's my approach and passion that will allow this to stand apart as a unique work of art. As I see it this is to present vitiligans for who they are as they are: people. And to my good fortune I've had the honor to meet and photograph a few individuals that have shared their stories, be they filled with hope or despair, if not to inform the rest of the world of what it's like to live with vitiligo, then, at the very least, to begin or to continue his or her own personal healing process. My biggest privilege has been witnessing subjects open themselves to me and my camera.
As with any creative endeavor, however, getting a message to a wide audience is not without its challenges. Right now this project is self-funded and so progress has been moving slowly. But it moves, nonetheless. My work thus far has been well-received though it has yet to be championed but given my past experience I know that that will come in time. Until then I'm focused on capturing one's struggle, be it good, bad or indifferent.
Replies
Hi all. Just a quick note to say that I will be traveling to different parts of the country in the coming weeks to shoot portraits for my project which I started back in 2009. If interested in participating, feel free to send me a message for more information and I'll reply to you individually. I'm in the process of seeing who is interested and which part of the country to travel first.
Sincerely,
Bill
Also, I hate to play the role of the Vitiligo Friend's cybersleuth, but I just checked out the site that you posted on your page and also the picture slide show. I thought that the slide show contained very amazing photos.
I could tell who the owner of the site was but how do I know that you are actually Bill Kotsatos? Just Googled you and did not find pictures or online profiles of you anywhere. Not trying to be disrespectful, only cautious.
There was also no business address, customer testimonials, copyright notices and none of the other things that commercial business web sites usually have, can you explain why?
Thanks for your nice words. I'm about to board a flight but want to address your questions so excuse me in advance for zipping through 'em. As far as participation goes all a subject need do is agree to be shot. (Check out my profile page I talk about it there). This is my first vitiligo photo project. This is in fact me. I haven't gotten into social networking all that much. My site isn't a commercial biz website. It's a portfolio. Hopefully this helps. Also, I will be working on this project for the next few days so if you or anyone else in the NY area is interested, let me know. The response has been overwhelming!
Also, pl make sure to include the opinion of some Doctors. Because, there are several doctors who were able to treat or reverse, V successfully, atleast in the initial stages. .
Granted there are may ways to spark said dialogue but it's my approach and passion that will allow this to stand apart as a unique work of art. As I see it this is to present vitiligans for who they are as they are: people. And to my good fortune I've had the honor to meet and photograph a few individuals that have shared their stories, be they filled with hope or despair, if not to inform the rest of the world of what it's like to live with vitiligo, then, at the very least, to begin or to continue his or her own personal healing process. My biggest privilege has been witnessing subjects open themselves to me and my camera.
As with any creative endeavor, however, getting a message to a wide audience is not without its challenges. Right now this project is self-funded and so progress has been moving slowly. But it moves, nonetheless. My work thus far has been well-received though it has yet to be championed but given my past experience I know that that will come in time. Until then I'm focused on capturing one's struggle, be it good, bad or indifferent.