To mark World Down Syndrome Day, The Malta Independent spoke to photography teacher, Angela Cassar and Down syndrome photography student, Maria Gauci about their keen interest of photography which led to an open exhibition of the student’s work this February 2018.
Maria, a very friendly and keen learner, has Down syndrome, a genetic condition which effects physical and intellectual development. The cognitive and behavioural conditions associated with the genetic condition include: short attention span; poor judgment; impulsive behaviour; slow learning and delayed language and speech development.
Yet for Maria, Down syndrome has not stopped her from being the active and sociable character that she is. The 23 year old currently works as a kitchen helper and among her passion for photography, Maria also does swimming and girl guides. On her second year at photography, Maria explained how she has learnt to use a camera allowing her to see shapes light and dark, designs, angles, lines and colours. She added that while she wishes to continue practicing such techniques she also wants to continue practicing photos that shoot daily routines too. Other students expressed how photography has provided them with great memories.
Photo by Rosaline Bonello
Speaking about her photography class Maria explained how her closest friends in the class who also have Down syndrome have increased their passion in photography so much so that they take photos every day. Maria concluded with thanking her friends, her teacher Angela and sending special thanks to her mother.
The photography class organised by the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility was set up for students with mixed disabilities. It’s held every fortnight for two hours for small groups and individual attention. Photography teacher Angela explained how the class is a mixed ability class however this year’s class all had down syndrome and their work had proved to me so impressive that a small exhibition of their work was held in Rabat a month ago.
As students, are all very active with most working and having other hobbies including swimming, girl guides, aerobics and zumba.
“The focus of the lessons where on compositional and visual techniques more than just how to use a camera. Texture, patterns and colours are explored and we try to focus on different angles and light. Visual language, where to look when taking a picture and to document what you like was what we really tried to achieve” Angela said.
Photo by Francesca Agius
The exhibition which exhibited ten pieces from each student focused on nature including flowers, trees.
“The class is just like any other class” Angela said, “They’re very opinionated young people and love to their own thing. But they really work very hard and are committed plus they enjoy it. When they understand something they really like to explore, for example as soon as they started to understand patterns they began to see it everywhere.”
“The challenges are more to do with basic level, you see everything needs to be broken down for them to understand but that’s it really. For me the reward is seeing them be so proud of their work. It’s great to see them produce good work and see their development” Angela stated.