Opinion
Portraits: looking at the DisArt silhouette
May 10, 2017 – by Benedict Phillips
At the end of 2016 Benedict Phillips was invited to attend and speak at the DisArt symposium (April 6-8 2017) taking place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. DAO invited him document his experience; to communicate it through photography as a series of portraits of delegates and organisers and to contextualise his photographic work with a short essay.
Since returning from the US I have been reflecting on some of the issues that have come to mind when thinking about representing an individual as ‘disabled’ in a context where they are supported by an inclusive community and reflecting on a divided society.
A central concern of our visual culture is looking, seeing, observing but it’s surprising how few people seem to understand this is not just an act but a discipline within itself. Like many disciplines it overlaps and interacts with many others, I spent many hours of every week from the age of 12 until I was in my 20s just staring. Often I would have a pencil or a camera in my hand and would [...]