Daniel Bugno, 'Jono's Spot'
30 x 42 cm 
C41 Film Photograph
Edition 1+2AP 
NFS
 
This is my brother Jonathon, aka Jono. A gentle giant with the cheekiest grin, he loves going to the pool, new foods and spending quality time with friends and family. Jono was born with the umbilical cord around his neck, resulting in a brain injury which has affected his physical and cognitive abilities. 
 
In the image, Jono is resting in HIS spot. The house is seventy-plus years old, terribly insulated, and this north-facing window is one of the few havens to feel the sun’s warmth during Autumn and Winter. Jono eats, watches tv, listens to the radio, rests and plays with his sensory toys here. In a world where people with disabilities are largely denied autonomy and ownership, it is his space. 
 
We the viewers have limited insight into the lived experiences of people living with disabilities. Society infantilises, dehumanises and describes people like my brother in terms of deficits. A cornerstone to this fallacy is that we, able-bodied people, understand them better than they do themselves, which is how we justify removal of their agency. However, the reality is that we can never truly understand what it is to be a person living with a disability. 
 
 
Dan Bugno (pronounced Buño, any pronouns) is a queer person, multidisciplinary artist and health professional living and working between Garamilla/Darwin and remote communities East Arnhem Land/Yolŋu Country. Dan’s practice includes photography, collage, printmaking, painting, and drawing, and explores a breadth of themes including intra and interpersonal relationships, queerness and systems critique. After completing two years of a fine arts degree and feeling disillusioned from institutionalisation of art practice in an increasingly underfunded tertiary setting, Dan switched to studying nutrition and dietetics, and is now an Accredited Practicing Dietitian. 
 
On hiatus from making art, a chance meeting with Jeff Andersen Jnr in 2023 provided the kindling spark to let art become more of an outlet for the stress of their Master’s degree. Over the past two years, Dan has exhibited collaborative works with Jeff in Brunswick Street Gallery, and is a finalist in this year’s National Photographic Portrait Prize in the National Portraiture Gallery. In conjunction with in their work as a Dietitian, Dan also teaches art classes in Garamilla/Darwin.