‘Weightless?’: disrupting relations of power in/through photographic imagery of persons with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Missing in discussions of visual representations of people with intellectual disabilities are their own perspectives. Rooted in Derrida’s concern with the ‘right of inspection’ over visual representations, participatory arts-informed methodologies were used in research with people with intellectual disabilities. They critiqued and then used Photoshop to transform public photographs of labeled people. Responding to visual constructions of labeled persons as ‘weightless’/powerless, they revealed personal experiences of being denied control over their lives and representations. Yet their critiques and transformations reveal possibilities for their re-conceptualization as powerful, subverting stereotypes of labeled people and disrupting relations of power in disability imagery.

Keywords:

• intellectual disability
• visual representation
• participatory research
• photographic research methods

Acknowledgement

The author extends heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Chris Sinding for her many readings of earlier drafts of this paper, her wonderful suggestions and ongoing support of this work.

Notes

1. The producers of two images included in this paper (the man in the diaper, and the girl with the wheelchair) denied us permission to reproduce them in public dissemination of the work. We can only describe those images and their transformations.

2. Bob, Sam, Donna, and Robin insist on the use of their first names in dissemination of their work. They were not directly involved in writing this paper: as a group, we identified different potential audiences for the work and made decisions as to who wished to be involved in various dissemination strategies. They have given me permission to write articles for academic publication – on my own and with those group members interested.

3. I thank Glen Walker for agreeing to stand in for those non-disabled others in positions of authority who have exercised power over disabled people in abusive ways. Glen has long been an advocate with people with intellectual disabilities and should not be confused with those he is representing in this image.