Changing Perceptions - and Building Community - Online
How social media became a way to meet like-minded people for local teenager, and contributing photographer to Greater Govanhill, Dylan Lombard.
Words and Photos by Dylan Lombard
If you’re a regular reader, you may already know the work of local teenager, Dylan Lombard. His photography has been a regular feature of this magazine, since we launched online in 2020. And if you’re a Southsider, you’ve probably seen him around, camera in hand.
But what you might not know is that Dylan now has over 236,000 followers on Instagram. His candid posts showcasing his unique perspectives, his photography work and his performances with local disability dance charity Indepen-dance have gained him followers from all over the world.
For many, social media can be seen as a source of negativity, and does undoubtedly cause harm to some. But Dylan uses his online platform to raise awareness of work by charities close to his heart such as Changing Faces and Face Equality Week, which campaign to raise awareness about the prejudice experienced by people with a visible difference.
Below, he explains how building an online community has helped him to help others:
I started doing videos because I thought that it would make me happy and lots of other people happy. Sometimes I find it hard to make friends in the real world as it is sometimes hard for me to communicate with people, and I find it easier to have conversations with people online.
I have an Instagram page to post my photography and my videos. My main goal is to get my message across to people and to showcase my talents. I would say if you have something that makes you happy or something you are passionate about why not share it with the world. Sharing my photographs and videos has helped me with my mental health and helped me to ignore all the negative thoughts and feelings I may have. My videos try to help people who may be having a difficult day or if they are feeling lonely.
I have noticed positive things happen when I’ve been sharing my story through my videos as lots of people have been giving me positive comments and feedback. On the other hand, there are always negative comments and nasty comments, but they are not worth time it takes to read or pay attention to them.
I have a huge passion for photography and I also love to share inspirational messages across social media. Taking photos is like a switch that turns off the rest of the world. I love raising awareness about my disability which is called MDP [mandibular dysplasia with deafness and progeroid features] syndrome.
MDP syndrome is an extremely rare condition affecting only me and 15 other people in the world. I also raise awareness for people who have disabilities to help them to stay strong, to keep staying positive and to have a smile on your face.