DEBORAH AWWAD

Self Portrait Puddle Reflection, 2022

Inkjet on archival paper

16 x 13 in

As a street photographer living with spinal stenosis, my disability is central to my unique, intersectional perspective and capacity to engage with my city and community as a senior, African American woman artist. Jaywalking, stooping, trekking, and in short, hustling, through constant pain to capture photographs teaches me to see what others miss and find the inherent value in such viewpoints. Through reflections and ground-level compositions, I conjure moments of meaning and reframe Chicago’s downtown into cityscape textures as well as natural and self-made reflections rarely represented in the art world.
I render my photos using only a cellphone camera and free editing tools, a choice rooted in economic necessity. My medium—like my disability—centers accessibility and pushes the boundaries of what "legitimate" artistic practice looks like, challenging assumptions about whose vision matters and what tools deserve recognition. My work asks: whose stories get told and by whom? Whose tools are considered valid? How does disability reshape artistic vision?