How To Be Disabled, According to Stock Photography

All images via Shutterstock

I have to take this moment to apologize. It turns out, dear readers, that I’ve been leading you astray. I thought I had this whole “being disabled” thing figured out — y’know, focusing on intersectionality, various forms of ableism, or political engagement — but nope! My mistake! Apparently I’ve been doing it wrong since birth and need to completely overhaul my approach. And who do I have to thank for such an urgent epiphany? The wide, wise world of Shutterstock.

Stock photos have taught us so much around here: what lesbian sex really looks like (twice over), the finer points of kink, even the true meaning of Christmas. I deeply regret waiting until now to explore their take on the disabled experience. Because my friends, what I’ve discovered therein is life-changing. Forget everything else I’ve ever told you and invest in these eleven principles immediately.

Here’s how to be disabled — the stock photo way.

1. Use a (manual) wheelchair.

How else will anyone know? Other mobility aids don’t really count — do you see them on parking spaces and bathroom signs? Yeah, didn’t think so. If you want people to believe that you’re disabled, you have to prove it to them in a familiar, comfortable way. Then they’ll know how much misguided guilt to project onto you, what to assume about your self-esteem, which questions are okay to ask (spoiler: doesn’t matter, they’ll ask anyway), and exactly how often to ponder the intricacies of your sex life.

Two photos side by side. On the left, a white woman with dark brown hair in a light blue shirt and sitting in a black manual wheelchair smiles into the camera while typing on a laptop computer. On the right, a different white woman in blue jeans and a short sleeved red plaid shirt over a gray top holds the wheels of her manual wheelchair. There is a laptop on her lap and she has white headphones over her ears. — All disabled people also get laptops

Invisible disabilities are useless in stock photos and particularly cruel to your audience. Could you imagine if they knew that disabled people are everywhere, all the time, even if they don’t realize it? And that supporting us involves more than installing ramps or calling Trump out on being a big bad meanie? The world would cease to turn! Nondisabled people can’t be bothered with that sort of critical thinking. So keep it simple and stick with the tried and true. There are a couple of exceptions — namely, white canes for blind folks and prosthetics for athletes or veterans — but otherwise, get yourself a chair that looks like it came straight out of a hospital in 1972.

2. And joyfully abandon it ASAP.

Because then you give the people what they really want: disability overcome. The joy is key here. You can’t just get out of your chair with no reaction or imply that you only use it sometimes (because anyone who does that is faking, obviously). It needs to be a climactic moment of victory, preferably your greatest achievement to date. No one wants to watch you integrate your disability into your sense of self. They need high drama, profound personal struggle, unrivaled bravery, and eventual liberation so they can keep assuming that being disabled sucks.

In silhouette against a sunset background, a person drops to their knees on a small hilltop and raises their arms out wide. Their manual wheelchair sits empty at the bottom of the hill. — Photo description: “Experience happiness on a hilltop at sunset”

A woman with short brown hair in a blue short sleeved shirt and khaki pants leaps out of a manual wheelchair with her arms up in the air. There is a large pond in the background. — Oh nothing, just flinging myself into this pond

3. Alternately, stay out of the photo.

Search “disability” on any stock photo website (we use Shutterstock) and you can go pages without seeing an actual human person. Because at the end of the day, the chair gets the job done on its own. It’ll stir up all that familiar pity, unease, and confusion without having to acknowledge the fact that one billion people worldwide are disabled and therefore disability can’t actually be or mean the same things for everyone. Efficient!

Frame the chair different ways to elicit your desired reaction. Might I suggest Vaguely Foreboding…

An out of focus manual wheelchair with a blue seat. — Very “true crime montage”

Deeply Contemplative…

A black manual wheelchair sits facing a large window, with light streaming in over the chair from outside. — If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me
One day I’ll know
How far I’ll go

Suspiciously Placed…

Don’t want to see ads? Join AF+

A manual wheelchair with a yellow frame, black seat, and gray tires sits unoccupied on a dock next to the water. Three pairs of shoes sit next to the chair. There are no people in the photo, only a boat in the background. — I have some concerns

Or Anthropomorphized.

Animated rendering of two black and silver manual wheelchairs, with a heart in between them to symbolize love. — I hope these two have a long and happy life together

4. Embrace headlessness.

If you insist on taking up space, at least let the photographer crop your face out of the frame. Remember that you are literally not a whole person.

A woman's feet walking along a sidewalk. She has a white cane out in front of her. You can only see her black shoes, part of her calves, and the tip of the cane. — Disabled people: earning 36% less on the job, taking up 80% less room in photos

A woman sits in a manual wheelchair holding a tablet computer. She is wearing blue jeans and a pink scarf and has long red nails. The photo only shows her from the neck down, no head. — This nails/wheels combo seems questionable

Front-facing view of a woman's legs in a manual wheelchair. She is wearing black stonewashed jeans and black boots, and is in a room with a dark wooden floor. You can only see her legs in the chair, no head or torso. — Disease disability paralysis handicap health concept
Legs of disabled person
Crippled female sitting on wheelchair
— A stock photo poem

5. Gaze out the window or exist in silhouette as often as possible.

Lighting counts! Remember your angles! Both of these poses suggest you are grappling with the meaning of life, which simultaneously makes you very profound and allows nondisabled people to feel So Inspired. If they’re not tearing up, you’re doing it wrong and should really care more about their opinions.

Two photos side by side. On the left, a young woman with long brown hair sits in a manual wheelchair looking out a sliding glass window into the sunshine. On the right, a different woman in a manual chair and wearing a purple sweater sits looking through a very large window that has white light streaming through. — Fun fact: all disabled people are perpetually bathed in white light to emphasize our eternal innocence and purity

In silhouette against a sunset background, a man reaches out to take the hands of a woman in a manual wheelchair. — “Really, I’m okay, sir”
“Let me just —”
“SIR”

6. Raise your arms in triumph when outdoors.

This is the International Disability Feel-Good Signal and able-bodied people LOVE IT. Systemic underemployment? Precarious healthcare? A Presidential administration that insists we’ll be fine as long as we’re, y’know, not too disabled, or queer, or trans, or immigrants, or women? Who cares! Head on out to the beach/meadow/mountaintop and get those hands up high. Ain’t life grand?

View from behind of a woman raising her arms over her head while sitting in a manual wheelchair on the beach. She is wearing a straw hat with a wide brim, and you can see the ocean in the background. — Might she be waving for help? Have we thought about that?

A woman in blue jean capris and a yellow sleeveless top raises her arms over her head while sitting in a red manual wheelchair in the middle of a meadow. — Repurposed outtake from a tampon commercial

In silhouette against a sunset background, a person in a manual wheelchair raises their arms above their head on a mountaintop. — “Seriously I’m stuck please get me down”

7. Be interchangeable.

No one’s gonna notice, right?

Two photos side by side. On the left, a white blonde woman is standing behind a brunette white man who's sitting in a manual wheelchair. Both are wearing blue jeans; she has a sleeveless white shirt on and he has a grey t-shirt. The right photo is of the same people with their positions switched; now he is standing and she is in the chair. — Hmmm

Whoopsie daisy. Whatever.

A white man with short brown hair in blue jeans and a gray t-shirt smiles at a blonde woman in a manual wheelchair as he tips her chair backwards from behind. — “He didn’t ask about this but it’s fine”

8. Seek divine healing.

Remember: God made you disabled because “He knew you could handle it,” but can also instantly reverse that decision if you pray hard enough. This isn’t confusing at all and you need to just accept it so we can move on with our lives.

Rear view of a woman in a long white skirt and top standing in a meadow next to an empty manual wheelchair, with her arms raised toward a dark sky. A cross can be seen through the clouds and is bathing her in a beam of light. — Stock photos are really such a subtle medium

In silhouette against a sunset background, a woman raises her arms towards the sky and holds a book in one hand. A manual wheelchair sits unoccupied toward the back of the frame. — “Miracle spiritual healing crippled woman praying with Bible stands up out of wheelchair and walks.” You thought she was just reading Freedom is a Constant Struggle during a nice beach vacation? Stock photos know better.

9. In the workplace, make sure you’ve got at least one able-bodied white guy with you at all times.

They will provide the “objectivity,” “business sense,” and “decisiveness” you otherwise lack — and can also explain why your requested accommodation is “just going to put too much strain on our budget this year.”