British photographer Nicole Louise Perkins wanted to spread the message, “Everyone is beautiful, no matter whom they were born as” through the art of photography.
This year, her hit collection was composed of a series of photoshoots that captured children with Down Syndrome dressed as Disney characters. Titled ‘Down With Disney,’ the images are intended to celebrate kids with special needs and show with the world how lovely they are.
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In an interview with Bored Panda, Perkins elaborates on what motivated her to do this project, what the meaning behind it is, and why it is important:
My last placement at college was in a special needs school. It seriously changed my life, I still work there to this day due to falling in love with people who have special needs. I taught myself photography on the side and started up my own business with that. When I was happy with where I was photography-wise, I thought I would put my two loves in life together.
I created ‘Down With Disney’ because last year I began my awareness/celebration campaigns. I absolutely love Disney and I know I am not alone, so I thought this would be perfect. I have always wanted to put my love for photography with my love for people with special needs and the day I did that was when I realized this is what I am best at. Show off your work: people will either like it or they won’t, it doesn’t matter as long as you have been true to yourself.
In another interview with Good Morning America, she said:
The Down syndrome community is one of the kindest most welcoming communities I have ever met. The response has been incredible, and it was so much fun creating the images. I have met some amazing families in the process and I’m so glad to see the joy the images of their children have brought to so many people. I hope people take away the fact that there is a lot more to Down syndrome than what you are told in a hospital. They are such beautiful special people and the world is a much better place with them in it.
The series of photoshoots went as follows:
Day 1. Aurora Marne (4 months old) played the part of Princess Ariel under the sea.
Day 2. Zephaniah Ojar (2 years old) discovered The Jungle Book life.
Day 3. Bella (2 years old) played with the characters of Monster’s Inc.
Day 4. Dorothy Mason befriended the seven dwarfs.
Day 5. Leiya Cooper (6 years old) had to make it home by midnight.
Day 6. Maryam El-Khamisi (7 years old) and Abdullah Adnan (2 years old) went on a magic carpet ride and saw a whole new world.
Day 7. Holly Allan (10 years old) was the beauty that met the beast, Jensen Pointon (6 years old).
Day 8. Chloe Lennon (6 years old) showed the world how Brave she is.
Day 9. Angelo couldn’t wait to be king.
Day 10. Poppie Underwood, (6 years old), Lauren Russel (6 years old), and Evan Williams (5 years old) went on a ‘Frozen’ adventure.
Day 11. Jaxon Jones (infant) never wants to grow up!
Day 12. Jackson Vaughan (2 years old) brought toys back to life with Rory Haywood (infant), taking “you’ve got a friend in me” to the next level of cuteness.
You can see more photos from each series of the collection on Nicole Louis Photography facebook page.
Perkins was thrilled that the series was so warmly received. She told Best Life:
According to some estimates, the abortion rate in the U.K. for families that find out their baby would have Down Syndrome is 90 percent, which I find heartbreaking. I’m around children with Down Syndrome a lot of the time and, honestly, they make my life so much better.
The UK is not the only place in the world with such depressing statistics. In America, there’s an estimated 67% of abortions due to Down Syndrome diagnoses, according to The New York Times.
