A collection of photographic portraits highlighting the beauty of people with physical differences due to genetic variations, The New Faces of Genetics and Beyond, is on display in the main mall of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) through June 10.
Rick Guidotti, photographer, and founder of the nonprofit POSITIVE EXPOSURE, has for more than 20 years turned his lens to the beauty and richness of human diversity. Working internationally with advocacy organizations, medical schools, universities, and other educational institutions he seeks to “effect a sea-change in societal attitudes towards individuals living with genetic, physical, behavioral, or intellectual difference.”
Learning events about the collection that are open to everyone include an on-site ongoing self-guided narrative medicine experience developed by Kathryn B. Kirkland, MD, section chief and director of palliative care at DHMC.; Interprofessional Grand Rounds, Tuesday, May 10 at noon, with photographer Rick Guidotti at DHMC in Auditorium E; and a narrative medicine session with Kirkland, May 11 at 5 p.m. at DHMC in Auditorium A.
Dartmouth College’s pre-health Nathan Smith Society, and the Ethics Institute are each hosting educational events and a panel discussion for their members using the photographs to talk about stigma, bias, and diversity.
Collaboratively curated by William A. Nelson, PhD, MDiv, professor and director of the Ethics and Human Values program at Geisel, first-year medical student Eleonore B. Baughan ’25, and Marianne L. Barthel, director of the Dartmouth Health Arts and Humanities program, this exhibition is made possible with support from Geisel’s Office of Medical Education, Dartmouth College’s Ethics Institute, and Dartmouth Health’s Arts and Humanities program.
“Rick’s dedication to his mission of using photography to cultivate compassion and inclusion is truly inspiring,” Baughan says. “Our hope is that the exhibition and Grand Rounds presentation will help humanize medical education, fight stigma, and foster a more inclusive community.”
View a selection of the portraits in the exhibition below.
Photographs by Rick Guidotti
