Please be aware, there are images on this website that are of Aboriginal people who have since passed away. In , Photographer, Belinda Mason collaborated with the participants to create a unique, highly emotive essay that takes the viewer through a journey of emotions, tapping into thoughts and feelings so often dismissed and denied.
Belinda Mason has worked extensively with all the participants to define how they wish to be represented. This is a radical shift in the way people with disabilities are generally photographed; rather than objectifying their experiences, they are the active creators of their representation. The work explores the myriad of connections between disability and sexuality. It challenges the hidden and often-at times not so hidden myth in our society that only the most glamorous, attractive and successful among us lead active, healthy and imaginative sexual lives.
It is a myth intonated through images present at every edge of our consciousness. Screened, flashed, flickered and fleshed out through film, print, press, art and Internet — eventually projected from person to person, generation to generation. But then there is the truth. We all have our own, unique sexual journey, mapped out with secret adventure, whispered aspirations, the pain of risk and over riding urge for intimacy.
It is a journey that, if fully embraced, determines and moulds our identity and self worth. The work creates new visual messages about sexuality and disability. These messages have a basis in the lived realities of individuals with a disability. The people who have collaborated in this photographic essay are all extraordinary.
Some are well known for their various achievements. There are Paralympians, people who excel in their chosen sport, professionals in the arts, community services, academia and people just like you and me. The exhibition challenges stereotypes about disability is, how it can be shown and the experience of living with a disability.
