"It's like a super power Chromosome" - Meet Downs and Towns photographer, Houston Vandergriff
- Jade Burrell
- Mar 7, 2022
- 3 min read
With a baby diagnosed with Down Syndrome at birth and heart surgery at nine months old, it was a scary time for Houston's parents.
Houston Vandergriff, 24, is the photographer behind Downs and Towns.
It would be too easy for anyone to become overwhelmed with a long list of things that could go wrong and another list of things your child may never be able to do.
"When Houston was a baby, a friend of ours - we didn't know them at the time - came to the hospital and brought her baby with Down Syndrome to see us," says mum, Katie, "that really was a changing point for us.
"We tried to do the same thing because it kind of helps to see that it's not just this long list. It's a baby, a beautiful person."
Starting off as a pre-schooler with a camera, Houston's photography career kicked off at just 10 years old with a portrait of Dolly Parton.
While his sisters were doing a school project for History Day about the medical doctor who delivered Dolly Parton, they lucked out with an interview with the country singer herself.
"While we were there, Houston was just playing around [with his camera] and Dolly Parton had him take her picture," Katie says.
That photo ended up winning first place in the Tennessee Valley Fair and Houston's photography continued to grow.
Sharing Houston's story on social media, he quickly went viral on TikTok after he and his sister posted a fun video on one Easter Sunday.
"All of a sudden he was an international sensation," Katie said.
"We were getting calls for interviews from India, Africa, Canada."
Since then, the Vandergriff family from Tennessee, are able to use Houston's photography and social media presence to spread awareness and support to new families of people with Down Syndrome.
The family also makes greeting cards donned with Houston's photography, new families are able to see an amazing photo taken by someone with Down Syndrome.
Houston has recently been working on a new photo journal in partnership with Contribute To, to inspire and encourage parents with new babies with Down Syndrome diagnosis.
Honoured to be chosen for this project, Houston and his mum hope this photo journal will be used to advocate for the lives of people with Down Syndrome.
"Don't stand here and tell me that he might not do this, he might not do that because that can be true with any baby," Katie explains.
"You could say this one might knock out their front tooth, and this one might need tubes in their ears, and this one might get cancer. If you have that long list of things that might happen given to you early on, you're going to be overwhelmed."
Katie acknowledges that the view of Down Syndrome varies around the world, even mentioning that the abortion rates in the USA for babies with Down Syndrome is 70% and places like Iceland is closer to 100%.
"They're claiming that they've cured Down syndrome and I just think that's the saddest thing ever for society. They're looking at it completely wrong.
"People are not defined by their disability. It might be a beautiful part of them that needs to be celebrated."
You can follow Houston's journey on his social medias and even purchase his photography on his website.
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