Photo Project “Heroes in the Shadow”: The Invisible Heroism of Parents of Special Children

On January 23, 2026, at 19:00, the official opening of the documentary-art exhibition “Heroes in the Shadow” will take place on the second floor of Teika Plaza shopping center. This documentary-art photo project is dedicated to parents raising children with various diagnoses and developmental features.

The focus of the project is not on medical terminology or the diagnoses themselves, but on the people whose lives were irrevocably changed the moment they first heard these words. In public perception, a child with a disability often becomes an object of sympathy, while the journey of their parents remains almost unnoticed. Meanwhile, it is they who go through fear, denial, pain, rejection, and take on daily responsibility without the right to pause.

The project “Heroes in the Shadow” raises questions that are rarely spoken aloud: what does a parent feel upon learning the diagnosis? How does their perception of the future change? What emotional, physical, and social challenges do they face every day?

The project grew out of the author's personal experience - years of observing the life of an aunt who became the “hands and feet” for her two children, having no opportunity to retreat or complain. This story became the starting point for a broader exploration of the invisible heroism that remains outside public attention.

Through photography and personal stories of the heroes, the project “Heroes in the Shadow” aims to make visible those who are used to being strong in silence. It is a statement about love, endurance, and inner strength - about parents who perform a feat every day without calling it so.

The project involved 10 families, including the author's aunt. Among the children's diagnoses are various autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, intellectual disability, Asperger's syndrome, FOXP1 syndrome, Down syndrome, and Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

The exhibition will be open until February 13, 2026.

About the Author:

Naira Kossyan is a photographer working with socially significant and documentary themes. Her focus is on human vulnerability, inner strength, and stories that often remain outside the public gaze. Naira may be known to a wider audience for her photo exhibition “What You Don’t Like But I Do,” successfully presented in Riga and Yerevan. The project “Heroes in the Shadow” has become a deeply personal statement for the author, born out of her own life experience and the desire to make visible through photography those who are accustomed to remaining in the shadows...