Invisible No More

For too long people with intellectual disabilities have been shut out of most societies around the world, or more accurately, they have been shut in-forcibly confined in mental institutions, quietly hidden inside their families' homes, isolated from public view as much as possible, and prevented from achieving the full potential that any human being inherently enjoys. Invisible No More rights this wrong.Renowned photographer Vincenzo Pietropaolo presents a moving photographic chronicle-a celebration-filled with more than one hundred dynamic images and thirty evocative stories of people with intellectual disabilities, those who may have been born with Down syndrome, autism, or who are "otherwise abled."Invisible No More offers a collective portrait of individuals who perhaps live down the street from us, but we hardly know they are there; people at whom we glance furtively on a bus, unsure how to behave toward them; girls and boys, men and women who by their "different" behavior and physical looks make us feel uncomfortable. Pietropaolo's photos tell their stories, his words provide the context of their lives. Respect resonates on every page as he welcomes us into the daily lives of families and individuals who, in his words, "make raindrops, dance with wheelchairs, walk in the park, perform piano concerts, work for a living, and navigate through all the traffic ahead."