The Creatures Time Forgot: Photography and Disability Imagery

First published in 1992, The Creatures Time Forgot examines the representation of disabled people - in advertising, particularly that produced by disability charities, and in the work of photographers such as Diane Arbus and Gary Winogrand. He shows how such images construct disabled people as ’creatures, ’ the tragic-but-brave objects of photographic gaze, or as the ’’appy ’andicapped’ of ’positive imagery’ advertising. As a disabled photographer and writer, David Hevey has been a pioneer in challenging such visual representations of disabled people. His work advocates a move away from medical, charity or impairment-fixated imagery towards a visual equivalent of ’Rights not Charity’. The book outlines David Hevey’s own photographic practice and includes wide-ranging selections from his work to create a visual form which reflects the new social presence of disabled people. This book will be of interest to students of media studies, cultural studies, and disability studies.