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Light and shadows: Skin bleaching in Uganda

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 1550 GMT (2350 HKT) January 25, 2016

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Ritah, an employee of a Mama Lususu salon in Kampala, Uganda, has her skin worked on by her colleagues. Ritah has extremely bleached skin with many infections, according to German photographer Anne Ackermann.
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Ritah, an employee of a Mama Lususu salon in Kampala, Uganda, has her skin worked on by her colleagues. Ritah has extremely bleached skin with many infections, according to German photographer Anne Ackermann.
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An optical enlarger waits for customers at a Mama Lususu salon in Kampala.
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An optical enlarger waits for customers at a Mama Lususu salon in Kampala.
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Jassinta shows her hands, which have a two-toned look. The skin on joints and ankles is thicker and therefore more difficult to bleach. Many women come to Mama Lususu's to specifically brighten the knuckles, feet and elbows, Ackermann said.
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Jassinta shows her hands, which have a two-toned look. The skin on joints and ankles is thicker and therefore more difficult to bleach. Many women come to Mama Lususu's to specifically brighten the knuckles, feet and elbows, Ackermann said.
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Customers' clothes hang over a wall at Mama Lususu's. Full-body bleaching takes place behind closed curtains in small wooden cabins.
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Customers' clothes hang over a wall at Mama Lususu's. Full-body bleaching takes place behind closed curtains in small wooden cabins.
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Susan visits Mama Lususu's during her lunch break to have her skin treated. She said she doesn't bleach her skin.
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Susan visits Mama Lususu's during her lunch break to have her skin treated. She said she doesn't bleach her skin.
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Creams and conditioning agents are seen at the salon in a busy Kampala shopping mall. "There seems to be a serious pressure for women to fit into dominant beauty stereotypes in a society based on the belief that the fairer and lighter is associated with beauty and wealth," Ackermann said.
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Creams and conditioning agents are seen at the salon in a busy Kampala shopping mall. "There seems to be a serious pressure for women to fit into dominant beauty stereotypes in a society based on the belief that the fairer and lighter is associated with beauty and wealth," Ackermann said.
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Aisha receives a face mask at the salon. For two months, she had been using a brightening product at home. It caused acne and inflammations in the face.
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Aisha receives a face mask at the salon. For two months, she had been using a brightening product at home. It caused acne and inflammations in the face.
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Feet of customers are seen from behind a curtain in Mama Lususu's salon.
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Feet of customers are seen from behind a curtain in Mama Lususu's salon.
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Ritah treats her pimples while looking into a mirror.
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Ritah treats her pimples while looking into a mirror.
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Mama Lususu also has male clients. Hussein, seen here, comes for stain treatment and for bleaching.
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Mama Lususu also has male clients. Hussein, seen here, comes for stain treatment and for bleaching.
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Only a thin plastic curtain separates the waiting area from the treatment cabins in Mama Lususu's salon.
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Only a thin plastic curtain separates the waiting area from the treatment cabins in Mama Lususu's salon.
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Sharifa came to Mama Lususu because of pimples, a common side effect of at-home bleaching.
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Sharifa came to Mama Lususu because of pimples, a common side effect of at-home bleaching.
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A woman sits in the beauty salon. She has brightening cream on her knuckles. On her face, she wears a mask that includes avocado, banana, ghee (curdled butter), egg yolks and honey.
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A woman sits in the beauty salon. She has brightening cream on her knuckles. On her face, she wears a mask that includes avocado, banana, ghee (curdled butter), egg yolks and honey.
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Story highlights

  • Skin lightening is a common practice among many women in Uganda
  • Photographer Anne Ackermann visited a popular beauty parlor in the city of Kampala

(CNN)Living in Uganda in 2013, German photographer Anne Ackermann couldn't ignore the sight of light-skinned women with obviously dark feet, elbows and joints.

As someone who regularly documents issues surrounding beauty, identity and womanhood, Ackermann's natural curiosity led her to Mama Lususu.
    Mama Lususu, which translates to the "mother of beautiful skin," owns popular beauty parlors across downtown Kampala and is famous for helping women to bleach and lighten their skin tone. She also helps to repair skin damaged by the improper use of bleaching chemicals or even stain removers at home.
    Skin lightening, a common practice in Uganda, is something that few women will admit to even though they were willing to be photographed by Ackermann in Lususu's parlor. Some of Ackermann's subjects even tried to tell her they were born with lighter skin.
    Photographer Anne Ackermann
    Photographer Anne Ackermann
    "There seems to be a strong desire for browner or fairer skin," Ackermann said. "Yet at the same time, there is shame and secrecy to it."
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    The ideal skin tone in Uganda appears to be caramel, Ackermann said. One client told her "brown women shine brighter in the dark night." Women are willing to apply harsh chemicals and carcinogens to lighten their skin, which surprised Ackermann because the process is also so harmful.
    "I am learning that there seems to be a serious pressure for women to fit into dominant beauty stereotypes in a society based on the belief that the fairer and lighter is associated with beauty and wealth," she said.
    Besides photographs for her ongoing series, the experience at Lususu's has also afforded Ackermann with new memories and a unique perspective of Kampala.
    "Just hanging out around the tiny wooden cabins in Mama Lususu's parlor in the hustle and bustle of downtown Kampala -- the air heavy with chemicals, watching and chatting to the women that showed up there from all walks of life -- was a great experience after trying to gain access for so long," she said.

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    Ackermann says her project is far from over, and she wants to keep documenting this process while broadening the scope to include other issues of beauty and identity. She has also started another series on beauty and plastic surgery, which is new to the region.
    Ackermann has previously documented body and identity issues. Her 2009 series "Plástica" followed women after plastic surgery in Brazil.
      She is now on a quest to find other projects that portray surprising and positive stories in Uganda. And she hopes her images will cause people to reflect on the undertones of identity.
      "I think it's all about raising a question rather than finding all the answers," she said. "If I can make people pause their everyday routine for a moment, look at the images, stop and wonder, I think that's a lot."

      Anne Ackermann is a German photographer based in Uganda. You can follow her on Instagram and Visura.