Join us at Photoville 2021!

Gareth Smit

At this year’s Photoville, Magnum Foundation and American Jewish World Service are proud to exhibit “As We Are: Collaborative Portraits with Uganda’s Gulu Women with Disabilities Union,” a series by Esther Ruth Mbabazi celebrating individuality and personal expression.

In 2020, Esther traveled from her home in Kampala to Uganda’s northern Gulu region to photograph a collective of women living with disabilities. What began as an assignment to photograph the work of the Gulu Women with Disabilities Union (GUWODU) grew into a multipart collaboration.

Esther partnered with Indigenous women from GUWODU with the goal of creating portraits that showed each woman how she wanted to be seen. With the help of a local fashion designer, the women dressed in clothing they helped design and posed surrounded by artwork they created. Some disabled from birth, some from war, they each came to the photoshoot with a shared desire to counter how the media—in Uganda and beyond—typically portray disability.

From the custom outfits to the vibrant backdrops, the women guided every decision to best represent their individual stories and styles. Esther documented the whole process to speak to the importance of agency and representation on both sides of the lens. When looking at the final results, the women all preferred the full-length images over the closer shots, saying, “This shows me as I am in my full existence, my full body, as I am.”

LOCATION

Brooklyn Bridge Park – Pier 2⁠

DURATION

September 18 – December 1, 2021

OPENING NIGHT INFO

Join us on opening night September 18 at 7:00 PM ET to see Esther’s project on the big screen in Brooklyn Bridge Park for 10 Under 10, where we will share about the making of our exhibition and celebrate Photoville’s 10th year. Be sure to also check out the rest of the opening day festivities!