History

It is believed that people with Down’s syndrome have always existed. However, it was not until 1866 that Dr John Langdon Down published a description of the condition, which subsequently took his name. Dr Langdon Down was also one of the first physicians to use photography to illustrate his work.

Florence T, aged 20. Florence T, aged 7. From the archive of Down's Syndrome Association, the UK.

Young man with DS. From the archive of Down's Syndrome Association, the UK.

These pictures of Florence T were taken while she was a patient at Normansfield, a private institution for people with learning disabilities owned and run by Dr Langdon Down. He was a pioneering physician, one of the very few of his time, who offered patients accommodation, education and recreational activities.

The level of care is reflected in the photographs of Florence. At age 7 and again at 20 she is dressed in her finest clothes, with elegant photographic backdrops and props. Her dignity, beauty and humanity are very much intact.

This is in stark difference to the photographs that began to appear after the implementation of the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act in 1919. This piece of legislation was very much grounded in eugenic thinking – the so called science to create a better breed of people. It also provided four categories of classification for people with learning disabilities – idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded and moral defectiveness – which led to the growth of hospitals and patient numbers.

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In the photographs that followed the subjects became exhibits. In many pictures, as well as their clothes, their personality and dignity is stripped from them. We were not supposed to see the person, but the difference, the defective characteristics of the condition, the burden that they place on society. Sadly, it would not be another 60-70 years, with the closure of the institutions and the gradual recognition of the value and contribution children and adults with Down’s syndrome make to our communities, before this type of imagery would begin to disappear.

Susannah Seyman
Information officer
Down’s Syndrome Association, UK