1. PHOTO ABILITY
#1
The #1 Inclusive Imagery Magazine
INCLUSIVE IMAGE
What is means..
BROKEN FROM WITHIN’
With model MacKenzie Clare
LA PHOTOG ROCKS
The ladies in combo
Vintage / Leather Shoot
DETERMINED ATHLETE
Takes on Off-Road course
TRAVEL ON WHEELS
Refined ladies travel the Globe
YOUNG MAN’S JOURNEY BACK
TO PRIDE AND ACCEPTANCE
2. EDITORIAL
Founded in 2012, PhotoAbility wants to continue
to build a library of high quality images and educate and inspire the advertising and design community to use, create and communicate with Inclusive imagery.
What difference is there between Photoability and
other stock photography websites? We pay more
commission to our photo contributors; we also
pay our models a percentage as well. We act as a
Model casting vehicle; we are exclusively specialized in Inclusive imagery.
PhotoAbility is based in Melbourne Australia with
an office in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
PhotoAbility offers creative, editorial and commercial stock images, both Rights Managed and Royalty free, as well as Illustration and videos.
Our customers are advertising agencies, direct
marketing and graphic design agencies, corporations, publishers and media companies, small to
medium- sized businesses, as well as consumers.
Many agencies and businesses around the world
do not have the time or resources to take their
own quality photographs for their media and advertising activities, whether a local press release,
publication or massive advertising campaign. That
is where a Stock Image Library and your photos
come into play. A photo library has a large selection of images to cater for a variety of situations
and needs and avoids the expense and time of
custom photo shoots.
Increasing the positive imagery of persons with
disabilities and who use mobility devices such as
wheelchairs, canes, walkers, guide dogs etc., will
not only encourage further inclusion by increasing awareness that people with a disability want to
participate and should be equally accommodated, but will help to eliminate the fear and negative
stereotyping that so often permeates all levels of
society.
Once people with disabilities we are represented
by a true and complete reality of their lives; going
on dates, enjoying activities and recreational facilities with their families, on the job, on vacation,
participating in sports, going shopping, enjoying a
glass of wine, a good restaurant, and all the good
things life has to offer, it will be understood and
accepted that these people should be provided
accommodations and consideration that recognizes how valuable their contribution really is to all
these industries.
How many members are currently registered with
Photoability and how many of these are active
contributors? We have over 100 contributors.
PhotoAbility now has over 1800 RF and RM images for sale.
How many images have Photoability sold since
you began operation? On average how many images are sold per month? Not enough J. We have
a marketing plan to change that in the next year.
Photographers can earn up to 45% on images priced from $20 for royalty free to $2500 for
a Rights managed image used in a multi-national
campaign. The cost of an image is based on a
pricing calculator.
Our vision for PhotoAbility is to be a valuable
go-to source for Inclusive imagery worldwide, to
provide recognition for our models that lead to
revenue and increased opportunities. Our image
gallery, intends to increase awareness of the value
in maintaining and making structural and attitudinal changes, it will encourage and sustain the participation of those with differing abilities around
the world
Coming soon: Travability Properties, a site that
will provide a resource for the sale, rental, lease or
swap of accessible properties around the world.
We need to collaborate and work together. Support each other and entrepreneurs with disabilities as much as possible. Unify as a group for the
betterment of all of us. “The more I help others to
succeed, the more I succeed”.
www
photoability.net
888-978-3082
deborah.davis@pushliving.com
facebook.com/pages/PhotoAbility
@PhotoAbility
pinterest.com/photoability
4. PHOTOABILITY.NET
What is PhotoAbility?
PhotoAbility.net represents one billion persons with disabilities spending billions in travel and lifestyle dollars
in economies all over the world. Yet, we are rarely seen
or acknowledged in advertising and editorial images.
Why is a small, yet powerful and growing segment of
society not being seen or represented as customers?
Increasing the positive imagery of persons with disabilities and who use mobility devices such as wheelchairs, canes, walkers, guide dogs etc., will not only
encourage further inclusion by increasing awareness
that we want to participate and should be equally accommodated, but will help to eliminate the fear and
negative stereotyping that so often permeates all levels of society.
We feel that once we are represented by a true and
complete reality of our lives; going on dates, enjoying
activities and recreational facilities with our families,
on the job, on vacation, participating in sports, going
shopping, enjoying a glass of wine, a good restaurant,
and all the good things life has to offer, it will be understood and accepted that we should be provided accommodations and consideration that recognizes how
valuable our contribution really is to all these industries.
We, through our image gallery, hope that by increasing awareness of the value in maintaining and making
structural and attitudinal changes, it will encourage and
sustain the participation of those with differing abilities
around the world.
“Welcome my name is Aaron Paul Rogers, (I go by
Paul or Aaron) I live in Hollywood California. I am a self
taught and very UN-professional photographer, I own
a camera and I enjoy playing with it on the weekends.
I love shooting amazing, beautiful people of all shapes
and size. I am here to document not judge. Here are
some of them. I am part of a 14,000 sqf artist collective
downtown Los Angeles.”
5. SPORTS IMAGES
“The wheelchair is not an
obstacle”
“The real strength is within
yourself. It is the force which
will make your goals being
real.”
PHOTOGRAPHER: Aaron Paul Rogers / MODEL: Domonic Corradin
7. SKY AND SOUL
A boy whose life revolved around baseball, on the cusp
entering his teenage years, with shaggy blond hair and
a charming boyish grin, suddenly and unexpectedly
enters the world that neither he, his family or his community was equipped for...the world of disability and its
accompanying medical equipment.
Casey was only 13 when the school called his mom as
he began experiencing severe back pain. She took him
directly to the ER where only a few hours later he had
no movement or feeling from the chest down. Casey
had what doctors refer to as a “rare spinal stroke.”
“It has been a long four years,” says Maryann, Casey’s
mother. He is now 17 years old and while he has done
his best to assimilate to his new reality, he and his mom
still find much of his new world inaccessible. He also
does not have a vehicle or van that is adapted so he
can drive when he gets his driver’s license.
Maryann found PhotoAbility.net and wrote to us on behalf of her son: “I thought something like this would
be exciting for Casey, as well as promote acceptance
of people with disabilities and show he is just like his
friends, just has to do things differently.”
We found a lovely photographer who drove hours from
her home to do this shoot on Father’s Day. While most
people would not have worked on this day, it was quite
touching that both Maryann and Debra lost their fathers
and wanted to do something meaningful on their day.
So these women who never met before joined forces
with a mission to create a shoot with Casey that would
bring him out of his shell and show him in a light that
his mother knows is hiding behind those eyes.
Debra, who loves to create high fashion photography,
had several styles of prom dresses and Maryann was
able to find two lovely girls Casey’s age to model with
him. These two girls and their family stood by Casey’s
side during his time in the hospital; when he came
home they remained close friends.
The set was a large gazebo on the lake; because of
the beauty of the multi colored ski-line with storms in
the distance that gave such a beautiful and intense
backdrop, at first we were sure Debra painted them in!
It could not have been more stunning as the heavens
gave them a very special canvas.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Debra Tope / MODEL: Casey Miller, Desarie and Emily Anderson
8. SMILE STYLE
While Debra helped Casey overcome his
shyness and find through this shoot a sense
of pride and acceptance, Debra shared how
this shoot has helped her overcome her
own personal struggles as well. “Photography has become a wonderful way for me to
connect with others - in return I have experienced so much freedom from the isolation
and depression that I had struggled with in
the past. Even though I am physically well,
I felt mentally trapped in many respects...I
really enjoyed working with Casey and his
family and friends. It’s my hope that these
images can capture fond memories and
show him a glimpse of the possibilities that
lie within.”
We feel we’ve made two new friends in these
women, Maryann and Debra, and hope you
will find what they created for our library
worthy of sharing, promoting, and using in
your projects.
Another positive thing that came from this
shoot is that Casey is inspired by the shoot
to do photography as a hobby and possible
career. We hope to support him in this quest
and that you lend your support as well.
“Although things happen you
can still go ahead with our
heads held high and enjoy
life.”
9. MUSIC STYLE
“Casey has tried to stay active, and his
mother has found adapted activities for him
that he can participate in. He has played sled
hockey, wheelchair basketball”
10. TRAVEL
Woman of travel and TravAbility
Our mission is to be agents of change; to inspire people who have never traveled before
to do so, and to inspire others to do more.
To encourage all cultures of the world to see
disability as an integral part of life, and to
provide the motivation to create accessible
environments that enable inclusion.
Travability was formed in 2007 by Bill Forrester and Deborah Davis. Early in 2007 Bill’s
mainstream travel agency was asked to organise a tour for a group of elite disabled
sailors to attend their inaugural world championships in Toronto Canada. That regatta
was a test event for the Skud 18 class as a
precursor for the Beijing Paralympic Games
in 2008. He was so frustrated with the lack
of support from the general travel industry in
regards to accessible travel arrangements
that later that same year, together with Deborah he decided to do something about it
and form Travability.
Initially Travability was set up as a vehicle to
publish accessible travel information via its
web site travability.travel. Today, Travability
is a part of a worldwide group who’s mission is to create equality in accessibility in
the hospitality and travel industries.
Our vision statement is simply “To make the
world accessible to all”, and is underpinned
with a philosophy that travel should be able
to be enjoyed by everyone. Sometimes it
represents the fulfilment of a dream held for
a lifetime, other times it may be a simple day
out with the family or friends. Whatever the
desired experience is it should be “inclusive” so that people with a disability can enjoy it together with their family and friends.
We realized that often the issue with inclusive experiences wasn’t the availability of
accessible venues, but rather the lack of
information presented to enable people to
make informed decisions. The information
was either entirely lacking or where it did
exist was lacking in the critical detail. Over
the past four years Travability has been refining its information presentation to devel-
op a model and associated templates to capture that critical detail and
present information in a concise but relevant manner.
Over the last two years Travability has become part of a small group of
international Inclusive Tourism experts and advocates who have realized
that the Inclusive Tourism sector is a major minority group in the Tourism
Market representing over 11% of the total tourism spend. The organisation has become a strong advocate for shifting the paradigm away from
a disability rights issue, in favour of an economic argument, based on
the value and competitive advantage to be derived from the Inclusive
Tourism sector for the mainstream travel industry. The impact has been
significant with Bill having been asked to speak at the SATH (Society for
Accessible Travel and Hospitality) world congress in 2009 in Orlando,
The Inaugural Access Tourism New Zealand conference in Auckland. in
October 2010, the Opening Keynote address to the SATH World Congress in January 2011 in Fort Lauderdale Florida, and the recent VTIC
(Victorian Tourism Industry Council) quarterly forum on the Economics or
Inclusive and Accessible Tourism.
11. SOUTH AFRICA
Travability is a member of SATH, ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism) and Tourwatch (An international
incubator for the development of Inclusive Tourism)
“www.TravAbility.travel is dedicated to Inclusive Tourism through education, advocacy,
and by providing accessibility information for
the world’s best travel destinations.”
Photo courtesy of Mark Higgon for TeamHybrid
13. STOCK PHOTOHOUSE
“Its so wonderful Deborah Davis at http://
photoability.net/ a stock footage house introduced me to Alanna Flax-Clark. She
thought we would have fun shooting together. Alanna and I had planned to hang out and
do a little shopping for wardrobe and maybe
to do a little test shoot if we felt up to it. Well
Alanna and Melissa Allensworth were chatting and had not seen each other for a while
and so Melissa was going to come hang out at
the studio also. Small world as I had shot
Melissa before at the Triumph Foundation
range day with Nabil Khattar from 7 Star
Tactical. Mellisa was the one with the Desert Eagle
if you saw the photos. We talked a very reluctant Melissa into shooting with us.
Melissa only wears jeans and tees, does not
own a dress and hates make up as most
of you know). So we called up Annie Ulrich
to work her hair and make up magic and
snapped a few photos. Such a fun day just
F’n around in the studio. Alanna’s super light
weight ripper chair is from Mike Box Wheelchairs.” -Aaron Paul Rogers-
“We can rock it out
and have fun.
We have no restrictions.
Life is a gift and we
are grateful”
PHOTOGRAPHER: Aaron Paul Rogers / MODELS: Alanna Flax-Clark and Mellissa Allensworth
15. MOMMY
PhotoAbility believes there is a market and a need for opportunities that will be inclusive of individuals with a disability in modeling and acting roles.
Wheelchair or mobility device users or those with a noticeable disability, with your help, CAN demonstrate that
powerful editorial, commercial, lifestyle or creative images
can be created that reflect the beauty of “Inclusivity”.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Our models will work with
you to give you need to make great work for your next project with as many poses and shots as you can imagine...
so let’s be creative!
If you are inspired to partner with a company who represents a segment of a diverse population inclusive of persons of all ages and abilities, PhotoABility can help you find
the inspiration, present the concept to your clients, and/or
find a the right model. So let’s work together! PWD’s (Persons With Disabilities) need to be seen and recognized for
their talent, beauty, abilities and economic impact!
All we need are creative, artistic and inspired photographers who are willing to hire or work with a differently
abled model.
Additionally, the many movies and other television shows
that include disability in their story lines is indicative that
this is a new wave that is forming...so be sure to be on the
ride!
Be a part of this growing and important trend to showcase
individuals of all abilities in print, media and television by
considering working with a talent who is willing and able
to take on this challenge and forge a new path together.
“There are an estimated 650 million
persons living with
disabilities in the world
today”
Photo Courtesy of Angelica Dixon
18. BEAUTY
Defining Beauty (writen by Camile Flosi-Araujo)
I believe in equality of all types. What we watch on the
news, hear on the radios, read in history books proves
that although we have come a long way from physically
wearing the scarlet A on our chest, being cast in stone
for practicing sexual freedom, being sold at birth to your
future unknown husband’s family and not benefiting from
the same rights as our male counterparts, such as voting, protesting, working and holding political offices, we
still are a long way from reaching and breaking the glass
ceiling that silently weighs over our heads every single
day. Being a woman in a wheelchair makes it even twice
as difficult to prove our worth because we are still being
judged on our looks, discarded by the first signs of imperfections that are visible to the outside world. So how
do we challenge that?
You can no longer wear skirts
No more tight clothing
If you do not cath on time, you can die from autonomic
disreflexia
You can no longer wear sandals because you need to
beware of your toes
You can no longer go into a jacuzzi
You can no longer spend long periods in the sun
You are going to need to wear diapers for the rest of your
life
Be careful when getting manis and pedis
You can’t afford to get a wound anywhere you don’t feel
The third week after I woke up from my induced coma,
still battling the effects of long term intubation, a sacral
decubitus ulcer that was getting bigger by the minute,
weakened lungs and complete stiffness from the long
“sleeping-beauty” like sleep (all this aside from still feeling the shock and denial of my T4 spinal cord injury), the
in-patient physical therapist assigned to my case introduced herself to me right before giving me a long list of
the things I would no longer be able to do as a paraplegic. These are some of the things she said:
Before the accident that left me paralyzed, I was obsessed with my physical look. I ran 8-12 miles daily and
grimaced at the sight of any unwelcome cellulite, extra
belly skin roll, a zit or anything that strayed me away from
looking like a photoshopped magazine cover model. So
much time, so much effort, so much work. And then, in
the blink of an eye, I was almost two hundred pounds,
bald, face full of zits and I sported a really fashionable tracheotomy tube that kept me from speaking and breathing like a normal person – through the nose. I felt like an
alien on Earth.
Camile in RioAs she continued babbling away, all I heard
was spinal cord injury = end of femininity. Sad, wasn’t it?
So, this is where all these points tie in together. The accident sucked; the first two years of recovery were the
worst; survival precedented vanity. There was a big lesson for me in paying attention that I was and am much,
much more than just what the depth of my skin shows
me and the outside world that I am. I had never paid attention to the brilliant mind that lay dormant for a long
time while I was compulsively preoccupied with the flaws
and non-flaws of my physical body. I lacked confidence
to keep reinventing myself according to what I was gifted
with by life (yes, even the hardships were gifts). That lack
of confidence allowed me to believe a young, inexperienced physical-therapist that along with my spinal cord
injury I had also lost my sense of self. I locked myself
inside the four walls of her predicament and stayed there
until my free-spirited nature hit bottom in order to force
me to break free from those illusionary chains.
Camile snow skiingHere I am today. Paraplegic. Mother. Almost 40. Writer. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Writing my
first novel. Student of quantum physics, metaphysics.
19. FREE SPIRIT
Spiritual. Believer in equality. Lover of life. Confident in
my abilities. And last but certainly not least, grateful to be
where I am today. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty and
if I knew then, what I know now, the journey would have
been much smoother to say the least.
I am writing this today so that at least one woman on
wheels out there who still feels out of place with her own
body and new life believes that it will pass. Do not focus
on the things you can no longer do. In fact that is the
biggest fallacy of all. We can do everything able bodies can do, we just have to figure out how to do it in a
way that suits us. We are still beautiful, sexy and strong
– and those qualities go way beyond the depth of our
skin. They are the essence of our hearts and souls. Our
bodies will change in a chair. Depending on your level
of injury, your belly will protrude, your legs will atrophy,
your shoulders will curve inwards and you may even lose
the ability to straighten out your fingers. It doesn’t matter. What we were left with is much more powerful than
what I described above. We can still think and we can
still love. The fact that we ended up in a wheelchair is an
opportunity for us to discover what else is special about
us. It is a kick in our behinds to stop living in the comfort
zone. We mobile-women are destined for greatness. A
greatness so big that it drowns out the magical effects of
any photoshopped magazine cover beauty. Remember
this: When an egg is broken from the outside, a life is
lost. When the egg is broken from the inside a life is born.
Break free from your self-imposed limitations and beliefs
and birth a new life for you that shows the world your
innate bright light. I believe in you!
Camile is a 37 year old mother and writer. She sustained
a spinal cord injury while performing her police officer
duties for The Miami Dade Police Department in 2006.
After two years of fighting to stay alive, she rediscovered her passion for writing and has been doing it ever
since. She has been published in five different countries
as a contributor for Extraordinary You: The Art of Living a
Lusciously Spirited and Vibrant Life. She is a regular columnist for PN Magazine (Just For Women column) and
is working on her first novel and memoir. For more information or to contact Camile directly use the links below.
www.camilearaujo.com
www.facebook.com/camilefaraujo
camile@camilearaujo.com
twitter: @camilearaujo
Photo by Lisa Clare, Model: Mackenzie Clare / Text: Camile Flosi-Araujo
