As we sit in Omar's room, aka WeirDo, while he paints, one of his favorite tracks blasts:

"Maybe they were gonna be a painter
until somebody said they couldn't paint
Maybe thought they was the next Jean-Michel
'Til somebody yelled, "No, you ain't"
Who said it would be impossible?

Those lyrics echo WeirDo’s story. Despite the limits imposed by his disability and society, he became a painter and keeps pursuing his many dreams. Through his work, he exposes the struggles and emotions he faces as a disabled person.
He goes by the name WeirDo. “I call myself WeirDo because I feel like an outsider. I’m different from everyone else in the room. I chose this name to embrace it instead of being ashamed of it. It's empowering”. WeirDo also expresses his personality through styling, shaking the traditional society around him.

WeirDo was born in Cairo, Egypt. At 9, he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which leaves him with physical disabilities and short life expectancy. At 11, he began using a wheelchair. Many of his muscles are very weak, including his arms. He depends on caregivers for daily tasks and moves.

WeirDo faces discriminations as public space in Egypt is barely inclusive. Besides, he lives with strong stigmas and prejudices about his condition. Regardless of the struggles, he fights for disability rights, inclusion and representation of minorities & diversity.

I wish to go beyond the conventional representation of disability in the media and talk about it through the angle of empowerment, diversity, and inspiration. By all means I wanted to avoid depicting a pitiable image of WeirDo. This project is an invitation to open up and observe more carefully, beyond prejudices and stereotypes.

The series includes photographs that show WeirDo’s daily struggles and joys, in a rather straightforward documentary approach. Other photographs have been created as metaphors or depictions of his views on life as a disabled person. Through my lens, I captured WeirDo’s desire to show to the world his rebellious spirit, his ambitions, his inexhaustible determination and his audacity.