On The Rolling Exhibition

I was fortunate to catch the story on 20/20 about Kevin Connelly, a photographer and professional athlete (Note: there is much to comment on regarding the program's portrayal of Connelly, but I want this post to be more about Connelly and less about media criticism).  Connelly, who won a silver medal in the X-Games for mono skiing, lives in Bozeman, MT.  Using his winnings, Connelly indulged his travel bug, and took approximately 36,000 photographs along the way.

Connelly's gaze is particularly important because of its vantage point, and because of what stares back into it.  Connelly was born without legs, and primarily uses a skateboard for personal locomotion.  As he maneuvers himself with his left hand, which is also used for propulsion, he maintains balance with his right hand while simultaneously snapping photographs with the camera.  The camera is in his right hand, generally.

There is an excellent literature in disability studies on the gaze, explored through critical analysis of literature as well as of visual media like art, dance, and performance studies.  What Connelly stares back into is the freakifying gaze of passers-by as they gawk at him.  In the interview, Connelly, who was articulate, forthcoming, and insightful, indicated that, on the one hand, he understands the curiousity underlying the gaze.  Yet, on the other, he was getting tired of all the unadulterated stares, and so he began taking pictures as a means of gazing back.  What stories are his interlocutors constructing? How do they make meaning of what they see before them (Connelly)?

What's more, Connelly manages to keep the gazes appropriately contextualized.  The narratives his subjects construct vary widely with culture and context.  As he notes on his web site:

1 year ago I was asked by a little boy in Christchurch, New Zealand if I had been eaten by a shark.

2 months ago I was asked by an elderly woman in Sighisoara, Romania if I had lost my legs in a car accident.

6 weeks ago I was asked by a bar patron in Helena, Montana if I still wore my dog tags from Iraq.

Everyone tries to create a story in their heads to explain the things that baffle them.

One should not lose sight of the quality of the art: Connelly is a talented photographer.  The expressions of his subjects, Connelly's use of art in a performative, empowering way, to stare back at those who stare at him, comes together in a collage of cultures, faces, and stories.

Recommended.