Disability in Fashion Photography and the Architectures of the Visible

This article examines the visual representation of disability within contemporary fashion photography, questioning whether the increased presence of non-normative bodies signals a meaningful shift in aesthetic regimes or merely reframes existing exclusions in more palatable terms. Fashion imagery is approached here not as a neutral site of visual celebration, but as a cultural apparatus that regulates access to visibility and symbolic value. Through the analysis of editorial practices and selected photographic case studies, the article interrogates the ways in which disabled bodies are stylized, legitimated or marginalized. The argument advanced is that visibility alone does not guarantee transformation because inclusion often operates through subtle strategies of containment, where difference is rendered acceptable only when aligned with dominant visual expectations. As such, the politics of representation must be understood not simply in terms of who is seen, but under what conditions and with what effects.