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| Lee Yu-jeong poses for the camera during a photo shoot in a studio in Seoul, Nov. 2021. Courtesy of Lee Yu-jeong |
By Lee Yeon-woo
Lee Yu-jeong, 32, feels that people stare at her whenever she leaves her house to go somewhere. "It's like a runway," she says.
She thought there were no reasons she should draw other people's attention. She is no different from anyone else, except for one thing: she uses a wheelchair due to a disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease in which bones fracture easily with no obvious cause or minimal injury.
It's perhaps due to this condition that people made numerous hurtful remarks to her as she was growing up. Someone once told her, "You are so young. What a pity," while others said, "Why are you so short?" Another told her, "You are disabled but your makeup looks good."
"Yes, I am different physically, and I'm short. So I couldn't think about my outlook positively. I wasn't confident when taking group photos or looking in the mirror," Lee told The Korea Times in a recent video interview.
Indeed, these comments hurt her but, she said, she did not get discouraged.
Today, Lee is the CEO of SOPLE, a startup that expands barrier-free environments and creates content to change people's perceptions of disabilities.
One of her goals is to spread the body positive movement in Korea, which is known globally for promoting acceptance of all bodies and physical traits, regardless of race, size, gender or physical abilities.
However, Lee thinks that the movement has mainly focused on race and body size, and thus, people with disabilities have been left out of the discussion. So she came up with the idea to do a photoshoot of people with disabilities.
"Plenty of educational materials about disabilities already exist. I wanted to change those stereotypes in more fun and fresh way," she said.
Her photo shoot has every component that a commercial magazine needs: fierce makeup, tailored suits and confident poses.
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| Park Chan-mi, left, Choi Hye-mi, center, and HYEWOL, right pose for the camera during a photo shoot in a studio in Seoul, Nov. 2021. Courtesy of Lee Yu-jeong |
"We googled references from other countries. Not so much, but from time to time, models in wheelchairs walk the runway in fashion shows or do photo shoots abroad. We shared the photos and cheered each other up,'" Lee said.
In the beginning, however, it was not so easy. She had trouble recruiting people. "People didn't understand what I was trying to do as there were no references. So nobody reached out to me at first," Lee said.
She scoured social media and YouTube to find people whom she thought would be interested in the project. She sent messages, called and explained her intentions for doing it.
Thanks to her efforts, three like-minded individuals ― Park Chan-mi, Choi Hye-mi and a YouTuber who asked to be identified by the name, HYEWOL ― gathered with Lee at last.
But there was another bump in the road, too. "We chose suits to look cool and independent. But since Chan-mi and I are short, we couldn't find suits that fit us anywhere." So it took more time for them to get a hold of tailored suits.
"The idea of revealing our bodies was a bit difficult, too … We had the desire to do the photoshoot confidently, but at the same time, we had fears inside. Nevertheless, we talked about it and concluded, 'This is our first time, so let's do as much as we can,'" Lee said.
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| A photographer takes pictures of Park Chan-mi at a studio in Seoul, Nov. 2021. Courtesy of Lee Yu-jeong |
It took more than six months for the completed photos to be publicly released.
The results have been a huge success. Lee won the grand prize in the Korea Communications Commission's contest for barrier-free content on Dec. 7. She also got rave reviews from others with disabilities.
"They reached out to me. They thanked me for doing this project and some even said they want to participate as models also," Lee said with a smile. Their appreciation led Lee to consider transforming this project into a seasonal one.
When asked about her future plans, Lee said she will continue doing creative projects that challenge people's perceptions of disabilities.
"Each person has a different body. Whether you have a disability or not, we are all different. I hope people can respect us just as we are, and acknowledge the fact that bodies are diverse," Lee said.
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