Student-Curated Exhibition Explores Portraits from the World of Autism

Mary Berridge’s award-winning series of photographs is paired with narratives written primarily by the subjects or their parents. The exhibition, “Visible Spectrum: Portraits from the World of Autism,” offers an intimate view of life with autism, as told from within an autism community, which includes Berridge and her son. It encourages an alternate way of seeing the condition, in which the diverse and unconventional perspectives of the autistic are valued.

It also explores the ways the autistic and their families navigate a world that is not made for them and in which they are not always welcome. Despite this, the stories may surprise people with their thought-provoking and affirmative viewpoints on autism and being different. The formally composed and quietly luminous portraits allude to the rich inner lives of their subjects.

“Visible Spectrum” is curated by students in the Documentary Studies course “Photo Fever: Curating Photography Exhibitions” (DOCST 333S/733S). It is on view at the Center for Documentary Studies, 1317 W. Pettigrew St. in Durham, through February 28, 2025. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding holidays.

Exhibition Opening and Gallery Talk 

Join us on Thursday, November 14, for an opening event from 5 to 7 p.m. Artist Mary Berridge will present a gallery talk at 6 p.m. 

About the Artist

Mary Berridge is an American photographer whose work has been exhibited in many galleries and museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Yale University Gallery of Art and the Princeton University Art Museum. Her photographs have received several awards (e.g., a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Siskind Fellowship, the Lange-Taylor Prize, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Documentary Project Fund Award and a LensCulture Portrait Award). 

Her photographs have been published in numerous anthologies and periodicals (e.g., The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, TIME, Der Spiegel, Raw View). After earning her MFA from Yale and a B.A. from the University of Michigan, she went on to teach at Princeton University as well as several other colleges and universities. She has published two books: “A Positive Life: Portraits of Women Living with HIV” (1997), and “On the Eve, Moscow, 1998” (2014).

About the Book

Learn more about the book, “Visible Spectrum: Portraits from the World of Autism,” and see the press kit.