OP details various first-hand accounts of disabled children across the UK who have been edited in their school photos. This is not a new phenomenon as one of the accounts is from the 1970s.
Some quotes from the article:
Behind the erasure of disabled children lies the frightening belief that they don’t belong in ‘perfect’ pictures – or public spaces.
If that feels somewhat chilling, it is because it should. Few of us – even at a time when someone, somewhere will always find a way to excuse bigotry – cannot understand the connotations of wanting to pretend disabled children don’t exist.
Children have had their disability aids removed by photographers. Other children have been altered with editing software or banned from their class photos entirely.
That is the thing with true ugliness. It does not come in the shape of a wheelchair, a cleft lip, white cane or scars. It sits in prejudice, digging and clawing its way into our culture until one day the nice man who is taking your child’s school photo asks her to hide her hearing aids. That this prejudice will follow these children into adulthood is perhaps the bleakest part. If only society had the desire to edit that out.
Is this ‘perfect picture’ stuff related to the changing nature of a photographer’s job? Now that everyone has access to high quality camera equipment and can take photos with their phones. Maybe their job description has shifted from capturing the moment to creating some kid of artificial pefection with virtual (and real life) airbrushing.