Portraits of people with Down's syndrome make world news

An exhibition at the Reykjavik Museum of Photography by Icelandic photographer Sigga Ella  It is currently on exhibit at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography and will be featured in May at the Warsaw Festival of Art Photography has made CNN news. The exhibition, titled First and Foremost I am,  presents 21 portraits of people with Down Syndrome, aged nine months to 60 years old. 

The photgraphs have now been featured on CNN. "Icelandic photographer Sigga Ella wanted to show that people with Down syndrome are more than a chromosomal abnormality. They are diverse and they're unique, just like everyone else in the world."

The photographer describes how the project came into being in a following way:

 “The reason I did this project was because of this radio interview I heard, where they were discussing the ethical questions we now face, that we can choose who gets to live and who doesn’t, as the aim with prenatal diagnosis is to detect birth defects such as Down syndrome and more. Where are we headed? Will people choose not to keep an embryo if they know it has Down syndrome? I had a lovely aunt with Down syndrome, aunt Begga. It is very difficult for me to think about the elimination of Down syndrome and her at the same time. ”

The title of the project comes from an article, written by Halldóra Jónsdóttir, a 30 year old woman with Down syndrome. She is a student, works at a library, is an amateur actor, musician and much more. She is one of the people featured in the project, as well as her article. In the article she goes through her thoughts on these ethical questions.

Here is a part from the article that she allowed to be used as part of the exhibition:

 “Hello. My name is Halldóra. I read this article in the newspaper the other day that caught my attention and at the same time made me angry and sad. There was this woman who wrote something about how people with Down syndrome should not exist. Therefore I would like to share my opinion. I have Down syndrome but FIRST AND FOREMOST I AM Halldóra. I do a million things that other people do. My life is meaningful and good because I choose to be positive and see the good things in life. I go to work, attend school and have hobbies. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family and I like being around people.

In my world there are all kinds of people, both old and young, disabled and non-disabled. It has taught me a lot and I can see that many of us have some kind of difficulty that we are battling, both physically and mentally. That’s just how life is, it’s not more perfect than that. And it doesn’t matter if you are young or old, rich or poor.

So I thought: Who is perfect? Who can say, that we who have Down syndrome are worth less that anyone else? We are all different and would it be so great if we were all alike?

My opinion is that it is much more fun that we aren’t all alike, because we can learn so much from people who are different from ourselves. I like learning from others and you are free to learn from me. I choose to enjoy the life I was given, to be happy with what I have and make the best of what I’ve got. It’s not a bad life, or what do you think? This is my opinion.”
 

Sigga Ella, (b.1980 in Akureyri, Iceland), graduated from The School of Photography in Reykjavík in february 2014. She has taken part in two of Mary Ellen Mark´s workshops, first in 2012 as an intern and in 2014 as a student where she made a series of people with Alzheimers. Sigga Ella has also published a book of photos of the electronic band Bloodgroup which were taken over a two year period, from 2011 to 2013.