Karolyn Gehrig is referring to both healthcare’s status as a luxury good, and the way traditional poses of illness are used to sell health and beauty back to us.
Doctor’s offices and hospital rooms aren’t the first locations that come to mind when we think about “glamour.” After all, glamour is often associated with both beauty and health, and there has long been a disconnect between these concepts and medical offices, ongoing treatment, and disability. Los Angeles–based artist Karolyn Gehrig is working to change the relationship between glamour and disability through her hashtag #HospitalGlam. In 2014, as Gehrig navigated a downturn in her health—as well as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder that targets connective tissue—she began taking striking photos of herself during medical appointments. Gehrig uses her phone’s camera, carefully chosen outfits, items found in the medical space, and poses influenced by fashion photography to capture unglamorous moments.
By providing a way for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses to represent themselves within what Gehrig terms “an often alienating medical environment,” #HospitalGlam encourages chronically ill and disabled people to reclaim a photographic gaze that has often been used against us. Any person with a chronic illness or disability can contribute to #HospitalGlam, as long as they abide by the rules that Gehrig has created for the project. For instance, the photo must show the person in a clinical environment—a doctor’s office or medical office—not in the bathroom or in the car on the way to an appointment. #HospitalGlam has become a rallying cry over the past five years as other chronically ill and disabled people have used the hashtag to share their own images. Currently, there are more than 8,000 posts on Instagram that use the hashtag. I spoke with Gehrig about how #HospitalGlam takes glamour in a much-needed direction.
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