People First Forum
People First Forum is a self advocacy charity for people with learning disabilities across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Their mission is to give people with learning disabilities the support and opportunities to live the lives they choose. Their aim is to help create a world where people with learning disabilities are treated as equals, living safe and happy lives.
I was commissioned to take a series of portraits.
Working closely with Amanda Frost, Jenny Bennet and the wider group we discussed and negotiated context, environment, clothes and props to ensure the subjects were empowered to represent themselves.
Empowerment is both a value orientation for working in the community and a theoretical model for understanding the process and consequences of efforts to exert control and influence over decisions that affect one’s life, organizational functioning, and the quality of community life (Perkins & Zimmerman, 1995; Rappaport, 1981; Zimmerman & Warschausky, 1998).
