A gallery of images celebrating diversity and inclusion, by Jodi Collins of Urban Photography
www.urban-photography.com
The All Born (In) movement is about more than the annual inclusion conference and educational advocacy. It’s about spreading the message of inclusion to the wider community. We need everyone in our community – from neighbors to business owners to the city and state government – to embrace the truth that we all belong, that we all have a place.
The All Born (In) photo awareness gallery is a great example of what can happen when we ask people a step or two removed from our daily lives to step in along side us in our work. Due the generosity of photographers Jodi Collins and Joshua Dommermuth and graphic designers Alex Harris, Brian Dalton and Giuseppe Lipari, the ABI photo gallery has brought our vision of strong, empowered imagery in front of countless people from across the region.
The All Born (In) photo gallery has had quite a tour around the area since the January debut at OHSU in 2008. The banners have spent three days at the Legislative Building in Olympia, WA, working to build awareness around some important bills in their winter legislative session. The images also made a trip to the capitol in Salem to kick off the Developmental Disability Awareness Month activities. They spent a day at Lloyd Center at a Multnomah County event promoting child and family health, and they have appeared at multiple conferences around the area. At our All Born (In) conference every April they help set the tone for the conference attendees, and over they have made an appearance at the statewide developmental disabilities Mega-Conference. They also appeared at an event at Portland City Hall, and a selection of the banners has made a trip to Washington, DC for an advocacy day on Capitol Hill.
The photo project provided us with a chance to meet many new people, and is an excellent example of how we can bring the larger community into our work. The project started several years ago, when parent Tacee Webb approached us with the idea of making a calendar. Tacee introduced us to photographer Jodi Collins, of Urban Photography. Jodi generously donated her time and artistry to the original DS Now calendar of 2005, and was eager to work with us again in the spring of 2007, when we began shooting for the ABI exhibit. In December of 2007 we met graphic designer Alex Harris, who in turn introduced us to Bryan Dalton. These two young graphic designers dedicated an incredible amount of time and energy to turn Jodi’s beautiful photos into the larger-than-life banners that make up our awareness photo gallery.
Joshua Dommermuth of Quixotic Images, and also provided some images for this project. Designer Giuseppe Lipari provides us with ongoing design work, and has enabled us to continue to expand the gallery substantially over the years. Giuseppe also created the striking 2009 All Born (In) calendar, which was distributed widely across the area.
As the banners travel around Oregon and Washington, they serve as a powerful introduction to our group and the work that we do to promote greater awareness of the value of all individuals. Our community continues to grow as more people have the opportunity to view the photo gallery.
