Social Issues

Photographing people in the rehabilitation of the physically disabled 

February 2021. Tehran, Iran

Photographing Physically Disabled people to help with their Rehabilitation
One of my interests in photography is to understand people with physical and mental disabilities
How do they perceive the world and their surroundings? What are their dreams?
Who helps these people achieve their goals?
Zahra is 26 years old. She is from Northern Iran and has been here for thirteen years. She caught my attention with her very small hands
She is very shy and tries to avoid crowds, or stands behind someone else.
Her social worker has to look for her when she hides. She sometimes locks herself in the bathroom for hours.
After gaining her trust by discussing all her favorite things like sewing, singing and playing the piano, she contacted me and allowed me to document her life with weekly visits. She also loves photography and showed me photos of plants and other patients she had taken with her phone.
What I found fascinating, was how much she could actually do using her tiny fingers.
I offered her a camera, but her hands were too small to hold it and she said she preferred using her cell phone.
_ Mehrnoush has no hands, but loves painting.
She uses her mouth to hold the brush, or uses her lips to cover the whole wall with kisses.

_ They came from the hospital to be tested for COVID 19.