Mt Everest

National Stroke Foundation posted a photo on their website a couple of days ago which intrigued me. Finding where this photo was taken and who created it was very hard without a name in so many of the posts of it. At the bottom of the stairs it said – on most – that the “owner” was the American Disability Association. In the photo which had appeared on National Stroke Foundation that information had been recovered, but it was definitely the same photo – same person at the top of the stairs, same stairwell. 

So many copies of the pic did not, once, name who had done this, so I Googled. So many people just reprinted whatever they had found – the stairwell painted like Mt Everest, in this pic – without giving a name. 

This is just a small list of what I found out about this photo.

• On 3 December 2012 this org, Invisabilities, commented above the photo “Today is International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Let’s take this opportunity to be thankful for our body in its current form, while respectfully acknowledging the daily obstacles we face. This picture symbolizes that everyone’s climb to the summit of Mt. Everest is unique. “From the bottom of this photo they had cut off the American Disability Association name and logo – not good!
• Transitized, a transport company in Chicago, USA, said on 16 March 2013 that even though from Tumblr this was “From the American Disability Association, 2007”.
• Jess (Min-hye) Lee gave the first real
  information I found – in October 2010 she wrote that this painting was done by the agency Jeski Social Campaign for American Disability Association in 2007. 

I Googled more about Jeski – and I found it.

So this painting was done by Jeski!  Jeseok Yi, now possibly 32, from Seoul South Korea, a designer who pursued an MFA, Yale University BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York. Yi won an NVA in 2011. He said “I thought making poor people happy might have a much bigger impact than making happy people a bit happier.” 

Jeski Social Campaign, on this pic, suggested “Graphic attached on the stairs in public area or the subway station to suggest having more facilities for the disabled.” 

Shafiq Zikzin from Kuala Lumpur wrote an appraisal about Yi and his works in August last year (2015). It was deserved.

I am top-disabled (ABI), but this message is definitely for any disabled person who might have problems with stairs, and you did very well putting this painting out for anyone to see it. 

I just hope that in the future all pics of this painting mention the person, Jeseok Yi, who did it for ADA – and won his NVA. 

Well done, Jeseok Yi.