Rick Guidotti
Photographer & Disability Advocate
Biography
Rick Guidotti, an award-winning photographer, has spent the past twenty five years collaborating internationally with nonprofit organizations, hospitals, medical schools, educational institutions, museums, galleries, advocacy groups and communities to effect a sea-change in societal attitudes towards individuals living with genetic, physical, behavioral or intellectual difference; his work has been published in newspapers, magazines and journals as diverse as Elle, GQ, People, the American Journal of Medical Genetics, The Lancet, Spirituality and Health, the Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly and LIFE Magazine. Read More >
Rick is the founder and director of POSITIVE EXPOSURE, a non-profit organization that promotes a more inclusive world through award winning photography, film, and educational programs. POSITIVE EXPOSURE has significantly impacted the field of human rights, mental health, medicine, and education by providing new opportunities to see each individual living with physical, genetic, behavioral and intellectual differences as a human being and vibrant member of our society.
In June 1998, Guidotti’s work was featured in LIFE Magazine’s cover story entitled, Redefining Beauty. In collaboration with the Genetic Alliance and the National Human Genome Research Institute, Rick Guidotti premiered a photographic exhibition for the People’s Genome Celebration at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in 2001 and continues to exhibit in galleries and museums internationally. Rick is the focus of the award-winning documentary, On Beauty, by Kartemquin Films.
In 2019, Rick and his team opened a multi-media gallery and performance space in East Harlem that embraces individuals at risk of stigma and exclusion and serves as a central hub for showcasing the work of visual, performing, literary and multisensory artists as well as providing educational, cultural and artist-in-residency programming.
Rick Guidotti remains committed to celebrating the beauty and richness of human diversity. Read Less ^
Speaker Videos
Rick Guidotti: From stigma to supermodel
On Beauty Trailer
Speech Topics
Change How You See, See How You Change
Rick Guidotti’s POSITIVE EXPOSURE presentation launches with the world of fashion photography, exploring cultural perceptions of beauty and the narrow parameters of the beauty standard. The talk refocuses on the negative representation of individuals living with genetic, physical, behavioral and intellectual differences in medical training and in public forums around the globe. The audience is invited to reflect on assumptions and biases surrounding differences. Read More >
Rick’s journey ignites audiences to understand the importance of self-acceptance and self-esteem as necessary ingredients for self-advocacy that empowers individuals and families at risk of stigma and exclusion. The keynote facilitates experiential opportunities for audiences to see beyond differences to the beauty and richness of our shared humanity through photography and film. The presentation highlights the urgency to address a common need for all of us in the classroom, the workplace and in the broader social arena: the need to be seen, the need to be heard and the need to belong! Read Less ^
Email Your List
You’ve reached your maximum number of speakers for this list.
Email Your List