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Photographer to document social crisis

Vanessa Tignanelli to go to Kyrgyzstan to photograph children with Down syndrome

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Vanessa Tignanelli couldn’t pass up the opportunity of a lifetime.

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She was selected from among 50,000 photographers worldwide to travel to Kyrgyzstan in November to document the ongoing social crisis of children with Down Syndrome.

Tignanelli said due to the country’s Soviet history, many children born with Down Syndrome are abandoned at birth, hidden away or institutionalized in mental hospitals.

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She said she applied last summer, but due to COVID-19 everything was delayed until recently when she was notified of her selection.

“I’m embedding with the Sunterra organization, a community foundation in Kyrgyzstan. The organization was created by a few parents who have children with Down Syndrome,” Tignanelli said.

“They want someone who knows how to capture those intimate moments – bring people in and allow them to walk in their shoes.”

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Tignanelli said these parents have decided to keep their babies in a country that encourages them not to.

“There’s a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities. There’s no resources to receive the kinds of education they need to live fulfilling lives,” she said.

“They look at Canada and they know what’s out there, things like occupational therapy.”

Tignanelli will be staying with a family whose daughter has Down Syndrome and has adopted a boy with Down Syndrome.

The couple has joined other families in the same situation to open two resource centres to help others.

“A lot more families are reaching out,” Tignanelli said. “A big part is education, educating the community to relate to those with Down Syndrome,” she said.

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“If a family has a child with Down Syndrome the hope is that they reach out instead of being frightened. Educate and stop a lot of the mother blaming. Women worry they don’t have capacity to care for them.”

Sunterra contacted Photographers Without Borders saying they need impactful documentation of their work in order to create change.

Tignanelli, who has a fine art background from the University of Guelph, said she knew at the end of four years that she didn’t want to be in the studio.

“I wanted to be among people,” she said, adding that she dabbled in journalism by volunteering at her university campus newspaper.

“I got really comfortable finding moments in busy situations.”

She then launched her own photography business, documenting people’s lives and events.

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“I loved trying to find those intimate moments. I was known for that style in Guelph.”

Vanessa Tignanelli will head to Kyrgyzstan in November to take photographs with the Sunterra organization, documenting the ongoing social crisis of children with Down Syndrome. Tignanelli is raising money to help pay for the trip.Submitted Photo
Vanessa Tignanelli will head to Kyrgyzstan in November to take photographs with the Sunterra organization, documenting the ongoing social crisis of children with Down Syndrome. Tignanelli is raising money to help pay for the trip.Submitted Photo jpg, NB

Tignanelli then enrolled at Loyalist College in Belleville for photojournalism. She made a huge impression, winning national awards and securing internships usually achieved by graduating students.

It’s at Loyalist where she met a lot of contacts in the field and was introduced to Photographers Without Borders.

Tignanelli got freelancing jobs with Maclean’s, the Globe and Mail, Canadian Press and CBC before moving back to North Bay to be with her fiance and her family.

Although she loves the field, she said being a woman and living in Northern Ontario during a pandemic does pose its challenges.

Tignanelli says she would like more of a work-life balance, but this is a job that forces you to travel.

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She said there are also not a lot of opportunities for full-time work for photographers.

And the opportunity with Photographers Without Borders is no exception.

The cost of this job falls on Tignanelli.

She has launched a few fundraising campaigns to help her with the cost of her flight and visa.

Tignanelli said she will be spending 10 days in Kyrgyzstan and will give the copyrights of the photographs to the charity.

“I’ve committed to do one (assignment with Photographers Without Borders) every few years, it’s part of my giving back. It’s worth it,” she said.

“It’s an honour to be selected for this. I was very close with someone with Down Syndrome at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall. I would love to do a story about something that is more hopeful. Other assignments have been heavy.”

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Tignanelli knows it’s not going to be easy telling both sides of a controversial story.

She will try to get into an institution that houses children with Down Syndrome.

“It will be hard to gain access because they don’t want anyone seeing this, but it’s certainly an important part of the story. I also want to show children thriving and excelling.”

Tignanelli isn’t afraid to tell the story not matter what she has to do.

She said “situations have happened.”

When she travelled to Gambia a few years ago with Photographers Without Borders she had to fight her way into some hospitals and was held against her will for 48 hours.

“We have some training in the field in how to deal with these situations. I’ve also done a ton of research on Kyrgyzstan.”

To donate, go to https://grouprev.com/PWBFundraiser-DS

The FARM, along with Creative Industries, Silver Screen Press, and local artist Maddy Young, have launched a T-shirt to help raise money for this project as well.

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