A photographic project by Shirin Rzayeva
The Speaking Souls project examines the perceptual and psychological aspects of the reality which children with autism and their families face daily. The series consists of color photos visualizing following concepts: parenting child with autism,
acceptance, overcoming the challenge of integration and unconditional love.
Speaking Souls represents the culmination of one year of almost daily collaboration between the artist and families of the children with different types of Autism Spectrum Disorders. To access the real-life situations the artist joined children and families at their homes, schools, treatment routines and outdoor activities. Deeply exploring the challenges she also conducted series of interviews with parents. This served as inspiration to create the series of photos revealing inner problems of daily lives which are not seen by others. The work is aimed to raise the awareness bring the challenges to the attention of the society and explain the importance of being compassionate and involved. “Bigger community integration of these children and successful future is everyone’s responsibility” is the message which artist delivers through the series of photos.
Shirin Rzayeva is a professional photographer with more than 15 years of experience passionate about children and their future. Children and families have always been main focus of her works and aspirations. Shirin has also co-founded numerous successful projects dedicated to children’s education and life skills development.
