Connolly champions odds

While everyone knows how it feels to be stared at, Kevin Connolly experiences this every day because of a disability impossible to overlook: he was born without legs.

As a kick-off to Carolinian Creed Day, Connolly, 24, spoke at USC Tuesday evening about how his disability led him to create his photo project, “The Rolling Exhibition,” and new book titled “Double Take.” The project is a collection of photos of people staring at him, reflecting his experience traveling abroad and people’s reactions to his disability.

Born in Helena, Mont., Connolly had a birth defect that caused his femurs to stop growing.

Despite his disability, he began skiing at the age of ten and started skateboarding as a student at Montana State University.

While studying abroad during his second year of college, he experienced a moment of frustration while being stared at, which was the inspiration for his project.

“I was cruising down this back street in Vienna and saw this guy coming toward me,” Connolly said.  “I kind of looked the other way to allow him to stare, and as he walked by I clicked my camera.”

The result of this spontaneous photo was fascinating, Connolly said, for the man carried an expression of interest and engagement.

After taking more of these pictures throughout the rest of his trip, Connolly noticed a universal expression on the subjects and returned home with about 1,200 photos.

“Everyone to some degree has that same look of engagement,” Connolly said.

Because of this universality, the project grew into a sociological study, and he decided to go abroad again to continue his work. After winning money for his second place finish in the Mono Skier Cross event at the 2007 X Games, Connolly embarked on his second trip, this time spending a summer traveling the world.

“I was really seeking to collect data over just pretty images,” he said. “I knew that all these peoples in all these countries had the same expression.”

Though the expressions were the same, Connolly discussed the different explanations that people came up with for his disability. While one person asked if it was a shark attack, another asked if he still wore his dog tags from Iraq.

“The nuance ... is when you start to look at where these stories come from,” Connolly said.

While Connolly highlighted the uniformity of the expressions as a key element of his project, he concluded by describing how his story is an example of how to look at people openly despite different situations or disabilities.

Carolina Productions and Carolina Judicial Council teamed up to host this event as a way to kick off Carolinian Creed Day, which is today.

“The day is for celebrating all of the values of the South Carolina Creed, one of which is acceptance and tolerance,” said Mary Miller, Carolina Productions cultural awareness coordinator.

Kyle Warren, a fourth-year political science and English student, is part of the Carolina Judicial Council and thought Connolly’s presentation was a good introduction to Carolinian Creed Day.

“I thought it was fantastic,” Warren said. “[Connolly’s story] is very motivating and goes hand in hand with the Carolinian Creed.”

The Carolina Judicial Council will be set up on Greene Street Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and their main event, The Game of Life, is from 1 to 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Russell House.