Freelance photographer Maiko Kuzutani has been drawn to taking photos of children with disabilities with their loving parents for years — ever since the time in college when she was shocked to learn how many mothers in Japan choose to abort children with disabilities such as Down syndrome.
Although most of her family photos are of subjects without disabilities, the images of disabled children smiling with their parents hold a special place in her heart because of the true joy that she can see they bring to their families.
It is that joy, rather than the suffering many may assume such families experience, that she hopes to convey to prospective parents and society at large in an exhibition later this month in Tokyo's Ginza district.