29, Empty your cup

29, Empty your cup is a personal exploration on Autism Spectrum Disorder and Neurodiversity. It's a photographic memoir of the lived experiences with someone on the spectrum, a journey of understanding and accepting alternative ways of living.

29, Empty your cup

This project(2023-) is about the experiences with my brother’s autism, seeing the world through him, often reimagining. I read somewhere about Negative Capability, the willingness to embrace uncertainty, live with mystery, and make peace with ambiguity. Living with someone who’s on the spectrum can often make you question the point of this grand scheme of things, which we often label as life. One is an inevitable part of, with no choice of theirs. I don't remember a life without him, I only know a life with him, of him and about him. Our existences are so intertwined, that I often, too often wear his shoes and try to walk in them. Life doesn't seem so heavy, only a play of sorts, ascribing meaning to it at his own will,  rejecting the confinements of what it means to be “normal”

29, empty your cup is a  visual essay on my life and his, ours, of all the occurrences like giant waves uprising and almost on the verge of crashing to the shore but haven't, yet. Beginnings should not have any timeline but certain numbers can have that effect. It's a story of contradictions and of never happenings, of me trying to find the traces of myself in a ballad of consequences which began in November, ‘98. In retrospect, it feels like an unusual dream where all of us are characters of sorts, the strings of our souls held together to play out a story which has never been told. But I hope in time, I’m able to combine those traces to reconcile with my own self. 


© Ashima Raizada - The Gift of Family
i

The Gift of Family

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Image from the 29, Empty your cup photography project
i

Children/Adults with autism often have deficits in language and communication skills. Sign language involves the usage of manual hand signs and movements to represent objects and concepts, and thus presents as an alternative communication system which might be beneficial for nonverbal or limitedly-verbal children with autism.

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Shelf life
i

Shelf life

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Beyond the horizon
i

Beyond the horizon

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled

© Ashima Raizada - Image from the 29, Empty your cup photography project
i

One key symptom of autism spectrum disorders is repetitive behaviors such as self-stimulation behavior which can involve one part of the body or an object commonly referred to as stimming actions. They may serve to help reduce anxiety and calm the individual, to cope with sensory overload, express frustration and relieve physical discomfort.

© Ashima Raizada - Untitled
i

Untitled