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Autism Stories: Some Reflections on Going Forward

| Florin Popa

For the past year and a half, I’ve been involved in a photo project on autism. It’s my longest and most demanding project so far. It’s also the most rewarding. I try to make sense of the myriad facets of autism and to understand how it contributes to our shared humanity. I try to better understand my son. In the process, I get to question myself over and over again.

Alysa proudly shows one of her paintings (Brussels, 2024)

Looking back

I hope that I manage to portray my subjects fairly. I hope they feel represented in a way that is non-reductive and non-judgmental. But I know how blind we all are towards our own biases. They will end up showing in one form or another. I can just try to stay open and work with myself while I’m working with my subjects.

I am not under any illusion of grandeur regarding Autism Stories. It is a modest, somewhat amateurish project in which I had the chance of meeting beautiful, supportive participants. I also had support from GAMP, a citizen-based association that fights for the rights of people with disability to have access to appropriate accommodation and support services.

I feel strangely detached from what happens now with the photos. These are the photos that I took in this or that context, which I remember so well. The stories that I listened to. The people that I visited over and over again. All this still feels very personal. But the succession of exhibitions and all the messages received sometimes feel as if they refer to something else, done by somebody else.

It’s not easy connecting the lived experience of being part of this photo project with the public experience of watching its results from the outside. They feel as being part of different worlds, connected but clearly distinct. It’s as if the project has grown up and, to some degree, taken a life of its own.

Going forward

It’s interesting to see how things can take on a life of their own. The photos and life stories that are part of my project on autism continue their journey through Belgium. In October 2024, they will also make it to Paris.

There must be something there that resonates with people. Not so much my photographic skill but rather the sheer fact that the shrowd of invisibility and indiference surrounding these persons with autism is lifted, if only for a moment. People are exposed to the reality of life with autism in a way that does not attempt to sugarcoat or overdramatize.

After two exhibitions in 2023 and another one in the spring of 2024, the photo project prepares its next steps: an exhibition in Paris on 11-12 October 2024 and another one in Brussels, on 3-8 December, to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Working with autistic adults

While preparing for these exhibitions, I also continue to work with new participants. This year, I focus on autistic adults. I work with autistic single moms with kids who are also autistic and with young adults trying to find their way into a pretty unforvigiving world. I work with people with different levels of support needs. Some of them are living on their own. Others are living with their parents or in residential care. Some are extremely articulate while others have a limited capacity to communicate verbally or in writing.

Will I be able to be a good advocate for them? To create something to which they can relate and feel close to? To show something that will strike a chord in people that may or may not have any connection with autism? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I will continue doing what is under my control. I will continue to document on this site the development of the project and I will gradually add the stories of all the people I am working with.

Photo Exhibitions

| Florin Popa

Up to now, 11 families with kids, adolescents, or adults with autism have taken part. I will gradually publish the photos and stories of these families on this site.

Meanwhile, the photo project is making its first steps into the world.

On the 28th of March there will be two events featuring photos from Autism Stories in the context of the upcoming World Autism Awareness Day 2023 on 2 April.

The first one is a photo exhibition opening event organized by Autism Europe in cooperation with the European Parliament. The exhibition will display twenty-five pictures by ten photographers from different European countries. It will last from 27 to 31 March 2023.

Place: European Parliament in Brussels (Balcony, Area ASP, 5 G)
Date and time: 28 March 2023, 11 – 12 AM

The second one is a small exhibition dedicated to Autism Stories. It is organized with the support of GAMP, a Belgian association that is extremely active in promoting the rights of persons living with a handicap, and Saint-Louis University in Brussels. The exhibition will be open from 27 March to 7 April.

On 28 March there will be an opening event at University Saint-Louis.

Place : The “Lobby”, 1st floor of the Ommegang building of University Saint-Louis, rue de l’Ommegang 6, 1000 Bruxelles
Date and time : 28 March 2023, 6 – 7 PM

Why a photo project on autism?

| Florin Popa

This project was born out of my own need to make sense of my son’s autism and the role it plays in his life and in my own life.

I wanted to better understand because I wanted to be a better parent for him but also for myself. We’re all children and we’re all trying to grow our healthy adult so that it can care of that child.

I also wanted to make the world of autism more visible for the wider world. To go beyond the quirkiness, the stereotypes, and the prejudices. To show what it’s like to live with autism for those who have the condition, but also for the family, friends and anybody else directly related to them.

In order to do that, the project tries to paint a picture of their life context and of the broader social context. What does their autism mean in terms of daily tasks, parenting, autonomy, relationships, or work? What are the coping mechanisms they develop? How is the interaction between people with autism and their non-autistic peers? How do the carers of autistic kids organize their life, build support systems for their children, and manage psychologically?

The project is not meant to focus on the difficulty of the subject’s situation, but rather give a sense of intimate connection. The idea is not to transform them into heroes, into victims, to emphasize their disability or, on the contrary, their potential hyper-abilities. 

The work tries to create a bond with the viewer/reader by presenting the subjects’ day-to-day experiences and struggles. It aims to shed light on the shared vulnerability and humanity of autistic and non-autistic subjects, behind the real or perceived difference.