My Instagram username is “@thatshortgirlwiththecurlyhair”, yes it is a mouth full
and quite long for a simple social media handle but it best describes my outward
physical appearance. I’m short, and my hair is always curly. These are elements
of my personality and physical characteristics that define me as an individual.
My life-long struggle of being vertically challenged has been quite an annoyance,
objects on high shelves are completely inaccessible to me, I have a hard time
navigating through crowded areas and I find that I am usually forced to crane
my neck upwards (basically point my chin to the ceiling) every time I have a
conversation with someone who is of average height and above. Not to mention
the number of times distant family relatives have asked me “What grade are
you in this year?” or “How’s Matric going?” to which I bite my tongue and
politely reply “I’m actually 20, and finished high school three years ago…”
Although the look of complete and utter surprise on their faces never ceases
to get old.
Over the years my diminutive stature has earned me many nicknames, some of
which have even stuck with me since pre-school, namely; Sarah-tjie, Shorty,
Dwarf, StrawBerry Short Cake, Chippy, Froddo, Stumpie, Santa’s little helper
and so on and so forth. Humour aside, being as short as I am actually have
posed some physical ailments. Yes, it’s funny to see my feet dangling off the
chair when I sit down but doing this for long periods at a time actually strains
my lower back. And constantly having to tilt my neck upwards when engaging
in everyday conversation with the next person does hurt my neck and shoulders.
The black and white images on the next few pages are photographs that were
captured and edited by me, the concept behind miniturising an average sized
human and placing them beside small hand held objects is to exaggerate how
the world is seen from my, a short person’s perspective.
and quite long for a simple social media handle but it best describes my outward
physical appearance. I’m short, and my hair is always curly. These are elements
of my personality and physical characteristics that define me as an individual.
My life-long struggle of being vertically challenged has been quite an annoyance,
objects on high shelves are completely inaccessible to me, I have a hard time
navigating through crowded areas and I find that I am usually forced to crane
my neck upwards (basically point my chin to the ceiling) every time I have a
conversation with someone who is of average height and above. Not to mention
the number of times distant family relatives have asked me “What grade are
you in this year?” or “How’s Matric going?” to which I bite my tongue and
politely reply “I’m actually 20, and finished high school three years ago…”
Although the look of complete and utter surprise on their faces never ceases
to get old.
Over the years my diminutive stature has earned me many nicknames, some of
which have even stuck with me since pre-school, namely; Sarah-tjie, Shorty,
Dwarf, StrawBerry Short Cake, Chippy, Froddo, Stumpie, Santa’s little helper
and so on and so forth. Humour aside, being as short as I am actually have
posed some physical ailments. Yes, it’s funny to see my feet dangling off the
chair when I sit down but doing this for long periods at a time actually strains
my lower back. And constantly having to tilt my neck upwards when engaging
in everyday conversation with the next person does hurt my neck and shoulders.
The black and white images on the next few pages are photographs that were
captured and edited by me, the concept behind miniturising an average sized
human and placing them beside small hand held objects is to exaggerate how
the world is seen from my, a short person’s perspective.
