REGARD

With "REGARD," I am opening a window into my familial reality. To emphasize control over my message, these everyday scenes are meticulously set, lit up; they are staged and posed. Nothing is left to chance. The performers are my daughter and me. These photographs are a collaboration between two sitters: in essence double self-portraits. The portraits are purposefully developed in black and white, for by refusing the decorative and emotionally evocative element of color, I aim to maintain a distance between us and the viewers. The composition of the photographs expresses routine, domestic acts in which I address the viewers directly: look at us bathing; look at us grooming; here we are at bedtime; this is us on a random day at the beach. In each mundane scene, the viewers are plunged into the outside perspective. At first glance, it may seem that I am offering us as vulnerable prey to their judgement, yet in fact I am guarding our lives, and the viewers are caught gawking--my direct gaze at the camera. Because I believe in the connective power offered by the depiction of domesticity, I aspire that REGARD helps the audience rethink some of their assumptions about people living with disabilities and with this, I hope my series finds a humble spot within the movement that helps people with disabilities gain visibility.