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The exhibit hosted by UCLA Disability Studies and the Rancho Los Amigos Violence Recovery and Prevention Program will be in Kerckhoff Hall November 9-13.
When you navigate the world in a wheelchair, your visual perspective is rarely centered in mainstream art or media. The “At Eye Level” photography exhibit taking place November 9-13 at Kerckhoff Hall aims to change that. The exhibit centers the perspective of six Black and Latinx wheelchair users living with spinal cord injuries as they invite attendees to experience daily life in Los Angeles as they see it.
Organized through the 2025-2026 Heumann Community Partnership Lab, the initiative demonstrates how creative visual storytelling can cultivate connection, reflection, and community resilience.
A purpose-driven partnership
The project emerged from Salih Can Açıksöz’s longstanding work with people living with violently acquired disabilities. As professor of Anthropology and affiliated faculty in Disability Studies at UCLA, Açıksöz sought to explore gun violence as a major source of injury and debility in Los Angeles while placing these experiences within the city’s broader social landscape.
The UCLA Disability Studies Heumann Community Partnerships Lab, a research and advocacy initiative designed to connect UCLA disability studies work with community groups and activists, helped make this work possible. Açıksöz partnered with the Rancho Los Amigos Violence Recovery and Prevention Program (RVRPP), Southern California’s largest rehabilitation hospital, where they combine violence prevention with long-term peer mentorship and support for individuals living with disabilities.
RVRPP had introduced photography as an expressive and therapeutic medium through previous exhibitions. This project was particularly successful thanks to existing infrastructure and expertise, including RVRPP CEO Walter Afable’s personal interest in photography and an in-house photographer, Spencer Toledo.
Inside the workshop
Collaborating with his partners Afable and Toledo, Açıksöz developed a series of interactive workshops and provided participants with equipment tailored to their technical needs, including external lenses for their phones and wheelchair compatible tripods.
“At a time of deep federal budget cuts affecting public welfare and violence prevention programs, photography offered a creative and meaningful way to make use of our limited resources while helping participants develop skills that could extend beyond the project itself,” Açıksöz said.
A series of prompts including: “morning routine” and “something that stands in your way,” provided a general framework to guide participants as they captured images. Then, these images became the central focus of workshop discussions.
“We looked at the images both in terms of their personal significance — the experiences, memories, and perspectives they conveyed — and their photographic qualities, including composition, lighting, framing, and visual impact,” Açıksöz said. “In this way, the workshops became spaces not only for developing photographic skills but also for sharing experiences and reflecting on everyday life in Los Angeles.”
For the participating artists, the workshop offered new ways to examine and interact with their surroundings.
“This has been a great reminder of how much more is out there that we don’t see in a single frame and how many more frames are within that single frame,” said participant Albert Bartee III.
Another participant, Karla Sanchez originally signed up for the workshop because she had a general in photography, but one of her favorite parts of the experience was that it challenged her to get out of her comfort zone. She plans to incorporate the lessons she learned into her photography, particularly playing with perspective, shadows, and angles.
“I would definitely recommend [this workshop] because it takes you out of your comfort zone, you can learn different skills to take photography, and also, it’s just fun to get out and take pictures and explore,” said Sanchez.
Experience the exhibition in person: The “At Eye Level” exhibit is on display November 9-13 in the Kerckhoff Hall Art Gallery on the 2nd floor of Kerckhoff Hall.
