por Denise Vásquez

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved being outdoors, I’ve always felt a connection to nature, and I’ve always loved traveling. People always seem surprised when they find out that a nature lover like me grew up in New York City. I can assure you that whether I was living in the Bronx, on Roosevelt Island, or in Manhattan…I always had access to gardens, rivers, parks, and more. As a child, during the summer months, my mother would send me from New York City to Puerto Rico for visits with my grandparents. I remember being in awe of the mountains that looked like giant waves frozen in time. I remember being in awe of the color of the ocean that reminded me of turquoise jewelry. I remember being in awe of the wildlife roaming free in the great outdoors. I remember how happy I saw big skies filled with colorful clouds. I remember how I cried tears of joy the first time I saw stars in the sky outside of a planetarium. That feeling of being in awe of nature’s power still resonates with me today! There is something uplifting, healing, and sacred about being outdoors. I’ve always felt a connection with nature’s energy, whether I’m in the ocean, surrounded by trees, near red rocks, or in the sand! Being outdoors, connecting with nature has always made me happy!

My dream job has always been being a traveling photographer, writer, and artist. I left home at the age of seventeen and have been traveling since. Having lived in New York City, Scotland, London, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and California, and traveling to Japan, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Wales, and all over Great Britain…led me to not only discovering sunrises, sunsets, and night skies, it led me to discover myself. I learned many things, including the fact that I am at my happiest whenever I’m outdoors, experiencing new places, connecting with nature and people while photographing colorful moments, creating videos, and writing about my experiences.

“I remember being in awe of the mountains that looked like giant waves frozen in time. I remember being in awe of the color of the ocean that reminded me of turquoise jewelry. I remember being in awe of the wildlife roaming free in the great outdoors. I remember how happy I saw big skies filled with colorful clouds.”

For many years, I worked for different companies as a professional photographer, and I loved my photography jobs because the work I did involved me doing photography outdoors. That was until I got injured at my last job almost 3 years ago. I ended up getting lost in a corrupt system, ended up with achilles tendon injuries, CRPS, chronic pain, anxiety, sleeping disorder, and other issues…which left me being permanently disabled. I have experienced many obstacles in my life, but the last 3 years have been some of my biggest challenges. I went from crutches, wheelchairs (motorized & manual), rolling walker, cane, and walking sticks, to currently being back on my feet for short periods of time.

As I am a positive person, I do everything I can to stay focused on things that make me happy! Every day is a new day, but with each day comes a new challenge, not only with the chronic pain, CRPS, achilles tendon injuries, and my permanent disability but just trying to live in a world where equality does not exist, especially when it comes to accessibility! I refuse to allow the obstacles to stop me from following my passion, my purpose, or living my dream, so I find ways to get outdoors because nature is healing! Over the last three years, having access to nature and the outdoors helped in my recovery mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

“I refuse to allow the obstacles to stop me from following my passion, my purpose, or living my dream, so I find ways to get outdoors because nature is healing!”

While facing many challenges, I also noticed that many barriers placed before me are not only due to my personal limitations. For years, I’ve experienced a lack of accessibility to the outdoors, nature, trails, viewpoints, parks, the ocean, and more! I haven’t been able to photograph popular destinations in many State Parks (like Wave in The Valley Of Fire) and some National parks because at some of the parks; there are no ADA Compliant paved trails. While some parks may have one or two “accessible” trails, I’m discovering that many of these trails are not ADA Compliant! We need more ADA Compliant paved walkways, paved trails, and paved viewpoints! As a disabled photographer, I am frustrated with having to be satisfied with either pulling over on the side of the road, being in a parking lot, or in the middle of a road to take photographs! It is not enough, nor is it safe! ADA is the law, and accessibility is a right! If everything happens for a reason, and I went through my experiences to lead me to my purpose, so be it! I am truly happy something positive has come from it!

I created “The Disabled Photographer Project” to bring awareness of what it’s like being a professional traveling photographer, writer, and artist living with a disability. Having access to the outdoors is a fundamental right, and I know too well, having a lifetime of fighting for equal rights as a woman of Puerto Rican descent, how it feels to constantly have to deal with discrimination because of who I am. My purpose in writing blogs and making Youtube videos for my “How Accessible Is Accessible” series is to demonstrate what is really accessible and what isn’t, what changes need to be made by sharing how things are, in hopes of bringing awareness to what can be improved! We are all human beings, and we all have the right to have equal accessibility to nature and the outdoors, whether it’s to connect, to heal, to create, or to be happy. My mission with my work is to also inspire others to slow down long enough to see what we do have: a beautiful world that already exists, that is waiting to be explored, wanting to be appreciated & hoping to be protected. I hope my work can help bring awareness to our beautiful world that needs to be accessible to everyone.

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Denise Vásquez is a Puerto Rican, Disabled Photographer, Writer, and Artist who has been published in National Geographic Yourshot, Canon Photo Plus magazine, IMPACT Books, and more! Her photography has been exhibited by the Southwest Environmental Center (Las Cruces, NM), Cleanwave Movement (cleanwave.org), San Diego Fair Exhibition Of Photography (San Diego, CA), Museum Of Ventura County Smith Pavillion (Ventura, CA), and more. Visit www.DeniseVasquezPhotography.com