Defying the Myth

What began as a photographic project soon became a true collaboration with these families. Over time, through shared trust, vulnerability and care, this project has grown into something much larger—a community, a network, a family of its own. The book also features drawings, artworks, poems, and testaments made by the women and the children. 

The book shines a light on the struggles, and triumphs of three single mothers raising children with severe disabilities. This project is more than just a story of survival—it is a testament to love, creativity, and hope. In it we meet mothers Shoulana, Annalisa and Nicola and their children Kallan, Mekhye, Gabriel, Maria, Jaffa and Nuch. 

Carol said: “I initiated this project to create a vibrant voice for primary caregivers raising children with disabilities. The goal is to raise wide public awareness about the challenges of raising these children and the impact it has on family life. The book is an empathetic profile of the families and triggers a mandate to initiate opportunities to improve the quality of their lives”

She adds, “Defying the Myth is a celebration of resilience—an urgent and necessary story that challenges misconceptions, amplifies unheard voices, and redefines the way we understand disability and family.”

Also included in the book are forewords by Clarissa Ward, Chief International Correspondent CNN and Fiona Shields, Head of Photography for The Guardian News and Media. 

Carol Allen-Storey is an award-winning documentary photographer specialising in chronicling complex humanitarian and social issues. In 2009 she was appointed a UNICEF ambassador for photography. She believes that while photographs may not do the moral work for us, they can trigger the process of change for the good.

She has won multiple international awards; a few including: 2024 Gold at the Association of Photographers (AOP). 1st place for the Julia Margaret Cameron Award for 3 consecutive years featuring: ‘Rape as a Weapon of War’. ‘Out of the Shadows’ ‘Healing the Scars of Genocide’. Some others include: The Taylor-Wessing, 1st prize in the series category for the IPPA Awards, 1st prize series, the Association of Photographers portrait award.

Her long term personal project ‘Defying the Myth’ was awarded Gold at the Association of Photographers (AOP) in 2024, The project was recently exhibited at the Xposure Festival in Sharjah UAE 2026.

Storey’s work has been exhibited extensively. In the UK, at the National Portrait Gallery, Somerset House, House of Parliament and Royal Festival Hall. Internationally at the Power House in New York, the European Union HQ in Brussels, the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, the DR Congo, Rwanda, Berlin, Czech Republic, Sharjah, UAE.

A natvie New Yorker she now resides in London.