Pictures Of You

Pictures of You: an exhibition with a difference - empowering and representing

people with disabilities through art

Pictures of You was a new collaborative exhibition led by John Brookes opened at Belconnen Arts

Centre at 6pm on Friday 2 December 2022 ahead of International Day of People with Disability.

The exhibition links people with lived experience of physical and mental disabilities with an

empathic, experienced professional photographer (Hilary Wardhaugh). Working in equal

collaboration to produce an honest portrait, the final works aim to reflect the whole person and not

just the ‘consumer with a disability’.

Project Manager John Brookes of @Canberry Communications explains: “The goal is one of equal

balance in working with the artist to vocalise their experiences and feelings, collaborating to

produce a visual and accessible perspective for reference by the subject and the wider community.

“The end result is combination of a meaningful and balanced exploration of issues and a source of

pride in the subject; coupled with the artist’s natural creative ability to empathise with and interpret

their subject in new ways by working WITH the subject.”

Eleanor Waight, portrait subject, adds “I really didn’t want to be portrayed as a sad figure.  I wanted

people to see me as I am and I really liked the end result.  I think there is a tendency for people to

see the white cane before they really see the person, which is a shame. . I like the way it shows me

looking forward with a certain sense of anticipation.”

Exhibition opening: 6pm Friday 2 December 2022

Exhibition: 2 December 2022 – 5 February 2023

Learn more: www.belcoarts.com.au/pictures

Images below in order are:

Melissa, Eleanor, Glen, Arto, Bruno and Rebus Theatre

MELISSA HAMMOND

Do you see what I see? A person in pain? A person who struggled to get

dressed and do their hair that day? A person calculating what they will have to

give up in their week to recover from this? My battle is not only with my body,

it’s the part of me you can’t see.

In 2015, I was involved in a car accident. As a result of my injuries, I was left

with the invisible disability called chronic pain and became homeless, needing

to couch surf to get by.

You could think for a moment that I’m lying but the truth is, being questioned

whether I am is just another way having an invisible disability hurts me. I don’t

share my disability and hardship as an excuse or to get out of things, I share it

to explain the barriers I am facing; hoping to be understood and supported.

HILARY

Melissa and I created this portrait after a long discussion about invisible

disability and homelessness. Melissa has lived with chronic and debilitating

pain since an accident. Her outward appearance to all intents and purpose

looks ‘normal’, though that word should never be used! Because of her

disability she has experienced homelessness, hence using the couch.

Her pose reflects the two forms of human nature that intrigues me - being

irony and contradiction. Here she sits in the road, all dressed to the nines with

the sun on her face looking resilient and calm.

The mirror reflects a different point of view. One cannot assume that just

because a person does not have an obvious health problem that they are well

and able. It is fluid. I wanted to show Melissa’s beauty and resilience against

adversity. The backdrop is a home that has been vacant for a couple of

decades, hence the irony.

ELEANOR WAIGHT

I am an emerging artist with low vision, dabbling in a variety of media.  I have

always had a creative leaning, be that music, writing or art.  I wanted to

capture me as I am now, particularly following a period of personal hardship,

including COVID.  

Hilary and I had a good rapport early on and I felt comfortable.  I even came up

with my own pose which was indicative of how comfortable I became.  I think

the poses where my cane leaned against the sculpture were particularly

powerful.  

I didn’t want to be portrayed as a sad figure.  I wanted people to see me as I

am and I really liked the end result.  There is a tendency for people to see the

white cane before they really see the person, which is a shame.  I like the way

it shows me looking forward with a certain sense of anticipation.  I think what

surprised me was my own presence as the focus of the portrait.  

HILARY

Eleanor and I met at the NGA Sculpture Gardens as she is a creative individual.

I wanted to make a strong positive portrait of Eleanor as she was previously a

runner and has also lost weight. It was important to me to use her cane in the

image as a way to make the viewer question what it was.

As an able bodied person I have learned much about disability when

photographing for the exhibition. Eleanor and I had a lovely chat about life,

family, relationships and work.

I felt that even though there are many differences in our lives there are far

more similarities. I really enjoyed the time together making her portrait.

Choosing the portrait was interesting as photographically at first I did

prefer a different image, but in the end it was great that we ended up both

agreeing on the chosen image easily.

WILLIAM (GLENN) DOIG

I was born on a 1100-acre farm in Lockard NSW, with my Mum, Dad and 4

siblings. It was a mud brick house estimated to be over 118 years old.

I loved growing up on the farm and was very rarely clean! It was a great

teacher to me in adapting and overcoming struggles, especially with my

cerebral palsy. I went on to achieve a Diploma in Computing at Charles Stuart

University, and then moved to Canberra to work at the Bureau of Statistics for

many years.

I have been part of a church group for a long time and through this group I met

my beautiful wife Sharon.

I love to talk about my childhood and family. I am pictured holding photos as I

love to share them and tell the stories behind them.

I am interested in science and natural wonders, and enjoy the comic Footrot

Flats, and the creator of the Muppets show Jim Henson. I love sharing these

with people through YouTube.

I found Hilary very interesting and really enjoyed talking with her. I was very

impressed that she made me look so good in the photos!

HILARY

Glenn and I met a few weeks before we did the actual portrait. We had a lovely

discussion about his wife, his condition, his photos, and what I did.

He tells me his wife has also been doing a photography course. He also spoke

about his faith and how important it was is to him. It is how he and his wife

met.

Glenn’s smile is infectious as is his wonderful positivity. The day I

photographed him it looked like it was going to rain and he told me that he

loved the sound of the rain on the tin roof.

I watched him sitting very happily and contentedly outside and felt it was only

appropriate that I photograph him in the front yard of his home.

ARTO LEVONPERA

I was born in Finland and came to Melbourne Australia with my mum, dad,

sister and brother when I was 7 years old.

I studied computing at school and went on to become a computer programmer

which I enjoyed immensely.

Despite suffering a stroke due to a brain tumour, I still have a love of

computing along with science, engineering and space. I enjoy watching shows

and documentaries on these subjects - particularly anything involving

Professor Brian Cox.

I love to talk about my Finish heritage – which is where my love of beetroot

comes from!

I really enjoyed that Hilary sat with me before the photo shoot and that we

were able to have a chat and get to know each other. I loved having my photo

taken and was smiling more than I have in a long time.

HILARY

I sat down and enjoyed a cup of tea with Arto before photographing him. I

learned of his love of the planets and stars, Brian Cox, robotics and that he was

currently reading a book called Autonomy.

The book discusses self-driving cars, but it seems poignant that the word

autonomy is part of his portrait, as his life requires much help and care. I loved

that he had a twinkle in his eye and I enjoyed his quips.

I photographed him sitting in his chair at his home.

BRUNO CIRILLO

I was born in Italy and moved to Geelong Melbourne as a child. I come from a

tight knit loving family. My family has always been very supportive of me,

especially my sister Maria and niece Rosetta.

I attended the Koomarri school and then worked for them for 44 years, retiring

this year.

I love Elvis, ABBA as well as singing and playing the guitar. I love to do art and

being around animals, playing games, watching old tv shows and cartoons. My

favourite thing to wear is High Vis work wear.

I had a fantastic time working with Hilary. I would have been happy to posed

and perform for her all day and was sad when she left. I love the photos and

have covered my bedroom wall with copies of them.

HILARY

When Bruno and I first met he wanted to show me his love of Elvis Presley. He

loves singing the songs and dressing up as Elvis himself. I thought about

photographing him dressed up as Elvis with the wig, the glasses, cloak and the

microphone. We did get some lovely portraits of him dressed that way but it

became more about the character, not Bruno.

One of the carers Amanda helped him put on his suit and as soon as he was

dressed I realised this was Bruno. Dressed, with dignity with his guitar singing

Elvis and looking wonderful. It means so much to me to be able to portray

Bruno with love respect and dignity.

REBUS THEATRE CAST: Edward Menzies, Leanne Shutt, Josh Rose, Carol Jayne

McManus, Stephen Perkins, Sam Floyd, Zoe Trevorrow, Megumi Kawada

Rebus Theatre’s bold new work Utopiate was performed at Belco Arts Theatre

in November 2022. The cast-devised show explored the experiences,

challenges and voices of the mixed ability cast through a fictional intergalactic

sci-fi odyssey.

“This is the first time I have been part of writing a play, there is a bit of all of us

in it. It is an empowering fascinating journey. We support and encourage our

diversity and quirkiness. It is a safe space allowing us to explore ourselves, our

feelings and how we engage in life on this planet. It has helped me find myself,

my voice, communicate, and explore my creativity. It opened my mind to new

ways and possibilities. Theatre is therapeutic.” (Leanne Shutt – cast member)

“It’s been an honour to direct this incredible, insightful bunch of humans. They

instantly gelled as an ensemble, responding like fish to water as we threw them

in the deep end of devising and performance techniques. They shared openly

and honestly, supporting each other in the creation of the story. They are a

theatre ensemble in the truest sense of the phrase.” (Ben Drysdale – Rebus

Theatre Creative Producer & Co-Director of Utopiate with Sammy Moynihan)

HILARY

When I attended the Rebus Theatre rehearsals I was warmly welcomed. One of

the Directors, Ben tells me that many people see theatre performed by people

with disability, a hobby and activity. We felt it necessary to show that these

actors are very talented at their craft and that not all emotion is happy.

We photographed the group going through an exercise where they were

expressing an increasing amount of pain. The expression was visual and verbal.

It was a powerful thing to observe and photograph.