browseLook Me In The Eye
Richard Grassick (Photographer)
Original Side Gallery exhibition text, 1989:
Steve Burns was able-bodied until a few years ago. Now he is paralysed from the waist down. The paralysis occurred as the result of a minor accident at work, the sort of thing that could happen to any of us.
With the help of family, friends and Hexham Spinal Unit Steve learnt to come to terms with this huge change in his lifestyle and attitudes.
The exhibition shows Steve at work and play and tries to illustrate his infectious courage and humour. He doesn’t want to be patronized or sympathised with, he wants to be treated as an individual, a human being, not an abnormality. It is in this sense that Look Me In The Eye is a collaborative exhibition where Steve has been involved from the start in both image and text. I’ve played pool and I’ve beaten people and they’ve gone away and I’ve heard them say: ‘Bloody hell! Getting beaten by a gimp!’ Because you’ve got a disability, you shouldn’t be beating an able-bodied person. It’s their pride, like they can’t stand being beaten by a woman either.
Note: This work was shown at Side Gallery as part of its Now series of exhibitions exploring current issues. The work was developed as part of Amber’s five year engagement with North Shields in the late 1980s and early 90s.