What does it mean to be seen with dignity?
Painter and writer Riva Lehrer and scholar Rosemarie Garland-Thomson examine how portraiture influences the way disabled people are perceived and how they perceive themselves. Through art, lived experience, and honest reflection, this video challenges stigma and reclaims representation as an act of value and respect.
Watch the conversation and rethink who gets represented, how, and why it matters.
- 00:00 Why portraiture decides who is seen
- 00:35 Meet Rosemarie Garland Thomson
- 00:46 Meet Riva Lehrer painter and writer
- 01:06 Why this portrait mattered
- 01:19 Centering the hands and meaning
- 02:37 The ruptured hourglass and embodiment
- 03:49 Portraits as cultural meaning making
- 04:19 Disability and harmful representations
- 05:14 Painting lives worth living
- 05:53 Mutual transformation through portraiture
- 06:27 The moment of being willing to be seen
- 07:05 Managing dignity and misrecognition
- 08:48 Seeing oneself as worthy of respect
- 09:01 Portraits as cultural mirrors
- 09:26 Dignity visibility and representation
- 10:07 Telling a different story about disability
This video was created by NCHPAD’s video team in response to the 2025 LOOKING. DIFFERENT. event held by NCHPAD. The event featured the artwork Portrait of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson from Riva Lehrer’s exploration of cultural depictions of disability, a discussion between Lehrer and Garland-Thomson, and a short reading from Lehrer’s critically acclaimed memoir, Golem Girl.
To visit the podcast discussions we had with Riva and Rosemarie, visit the links below!