What I See, Who I Am!

Disabled children explore their world through photography, with help from College of Art and Design students at Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University, in Saudi Arabia.

This article is a guest feature by Janice Levy, a professor in the Department of Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. Professor Levy spent ten months of her 2010-2011 sabbatical in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, teaching photography to young women at the newly established College of Fine Art and Design at Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh.

Using her stronger left hand to hold the camera, Azziza takes a picture of Professor Levy, who is taking a picture of her. Photo by Janice Levy.

When you learn the most from those you think know the least, the lesson will transform you. This is what happened when fifteen photography students from Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) participated in a unique collaboration with children at the Disabled Children’s Association (DCA) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

My PNU students were new to photography, and they were struggling with what it meant to photograph in a culture where representations of living things are considered haraam (against Islam). By using photography as a tool for personal expression and social change, I wanted to engage them in community service, a new concept in the Kingdom.

I had previous experience bringing together photography students and the disabled. In January 2005, while I was teaching a two-week photojournalism course in Antigua, W.I., my students and I visited the Amazing Grace Foundation, a home for the severely physically and developmentally disabled in St. Johns, the capital of Antigua & Barbuda. That encounter, although difficult for the students, was life-altering. At Amazing Grace, the disabled were passive subjects for the photography students, who struggled to overcome their own discomfort yet represent the disabled in meaningful ways. I wanted the KSA project to be more significant, so I added a component that intensified the collaboration and greatly enriched the results.

I proposed a multi-faceted project to three dynamic and visionary Saudi women directors at the DCA and to administrators at PNU. As part of their Advanced Photography coursework during spring 2011, PNU students would both photograph at the DCA and teach a select group of disabled children how to take photographs.

Ashwag examines her phographs while a PNU student displays a picture of Ashwag taken by another DCA student, all of this on the first day using the cameras. Photo by Janice Levy.

The goals of the project were myriad. Exposure to disabled children would help PNU students overcome significant fears, prejudices, and misconceptions they had about disabilities. Because of religious and cultural restrictions, most of the PNU students led very sheltered lives. They had few, if any, opportunities to observe the work of physical or occupational therapists, for example, let alone imagine themselves in those careers. In addition, the students would refine their photographic skills, develop social awareness, and, in all likelihood, access a dormant part of their humanity.

The disabled children would learn the art and skill of photography. In addition to being fun, taking pictures could become an important means of expression, especially for children who have difficulty with verbal communication.

The DCA students would gain a sense of dignity and have the opportunity to show the world that disabilities do not indicate a lack of emotions, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. The project would culminate in a photography exhibition featuring work produced by both the DCA and the PNU students.

Taif took this photograph of a minaret near her home. Photo by Taif Al-Quhtany.

The idea of using cameras as a tool for empowerment is not new. Based on this concept, photojournalist Jim Hubbard created “Shooting Back” in the 1980s, and others have used this technique with a variety of populations in different nations. But our project would mark the first time in Saudi Arabia that education, the arts, and community service were combined into one project. It was one of the few times photography was treated as a legitimate vehicle for meaningful expression in KSA, not just superficial description — such as photographs of sand dunes and sunsets.

The DCA directors and PNU administrators realized the proposed collaboration had the potential to impact Saudi society in very far-reaching and long-lasting ways. Approval to proceed was granted in record time.

I consulted with two DCA art teachers and an occupational therapist to select children to participate. In selecting participants, we took into account availability (each needed permission of his or her family), level of interest, cognitive ability, and dexterity.

After much research, I decided that the Canon S-95 compact digital camera would be best for the DCA students. It was sturdy but lightweight, easy to use, and had RAW image capture, a feature that allows the camera to take the best quality images. The DCA purchased five cameras that were rotated among the eight DCA students who participated in the program. Each student, ranging in age from six to ten, kept a camera for three days at time.

Abdullah learns camera controls with the assistance of a PNU student. Photo by Janice Levy.

We arranged eight, four-hour visits to the DCA during the fourteen-week semester. PNU students met with the DCA participants and taught them to use the cameras, reviewed their pictures, encouraged them to talk about their work, and photographed activities at the school.

The outcome of “What I See, Who I Am!” was remarkable. The DCA students photographed both outside and inside the privacy of their homes, creating a rare and insightful documentation of their lives. Despite lack of experience with the medium, the photographs taken by DCA students revealed a sophistication of vision and a sensitivity usually seen only in the work of highly accomplished photographers.

Azziza took this photograph of her father while he was napping on the floor of their home. Photo by Azziza.

For the PNU students, the experience was transformative. At an end-of-semester gathering, they reported learning more than they had ever imagined just by being with the disabled students. One woman, humbled by the experience, said, “I watched so many times while they tried to do something, and they wouldn’t stop until they had done it, no matter how difficult. Me, I give up after one try, and I am able-bodied. I will never give up again.” Another student was surprised by how the disabled children viewed themselves. “They have more ambition than me. I asked ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ and he said a pilot or a doctor.’ They don’t even think these things are not possible. I don’t even think about doing these thing in my life.” Yet another said she never thought she could teach, but this experience made her more confident and proud.

I told the young women how proud I was of them. They had moved far outside their comfort zones and had trusted each other – and trusted me – enough to take a journey that forever changed the way they thought about themselves, disabilities, and their role in the world.

Although they didn’t need to be reminded of how far they had come, or how much they had learned, I asked them to recall their first visit to the DCA. The women laughed. In retrospect, they couldn’t believe how nervous they were about meeting the children. Some said they were so sure that being around disabled kids would make them sad. After all, the DCA children were “less fortunate” than them. But being around the kids didn’t make them sad. For the first time in their lives, these PNU students were “giving back.” And that felt really good.

Using digital cameras allowed students to review their images instantaneously. Here, Professor Levy and Taif share excitement over the photographs she took. Photo by Janice Levy using self timer.