The Final Major Project (or FMP) is the final project that will be produced during the final semester of the photography degree. The project will be an extensive study into the portrayal of the disabled in todays society; which is an extended study following the dissertation which explored the current position of disability in photography and how this can be improved. The dissertation showed that there is a rise of the disabled body being shown, but there still needs to be more change. In order to inflict change, there must be understanding.
Disability Talks (working title) is a project that challenges the public perception and position of the disabled person in society. Following the dissertation, exploring the current position of the disabled body in photography and how to improve this, a personal awareness was developed in relation to discrimination and lack of acceptance in society for the disabled.
Disability is an issue that affects around 11 million people in the UK (in accordance with 2014 Government statistics.) This seems a large amount, however, the majority of those with a disability or life limiting condition are unseen to the wider community; whether this be because the conditions are largely invisible or whether wider society has chosen to ignore it for numerous reasons. Parallel to the ignorance of society is the disabled community, who by no fault of their own have been discriminated against in many ways without their voice being heard. Their voice is what is portrayed through this photography project.
Rachel Buxton Photography 