When Apollo Bergeron was diagnosed with a rare heart defect, he underwent two heart surgeries and was left with a feeding tube in his stomach. Despite his physical limitations, his mom Renee did not want her youngest son to view himself as less than other children, so she decided to dress him up as a superhero.
Since the compassionate mom is also a professional photographer, she captured various encouraging snapshots of her son as a superhero and was then inspired to keep going with this theme. “I am a professional photographer, so when I saw how much he loved the photos, I decided to start doing this for other families of children with special needs,” Renee told The Stir. “I offer these sessions free of charge because I want other children to get the same joy out of photos of themselves as Apollo did.”
This initial photoshoot resulted in “The Superhero Project,” which is a photo series of special needs children as powerful, strong superheroes. From this experience, the mom of 14 children has learned that it is important to look beyond appearances and to actually get to know a person for who they truly are. “I hope that people will learn the lesson I have: people, whatever their needs or differences, are all equally valuable,” she explains.
Renee Bergeron's Little Earthling Photography
Renee Bergeron's Blog
via [The Stir, The Huffington Post]
