Kids Are the Real Heroes in Photographer’s Justice League Shoot

Kids love superheroes, but for children with disabilities or illnesses heroes such as Wonder Woman or Superman aren’t just stories. They’re inspirations and reflections of their own strength and that’s where photographer Josh Rossi come in.

Rossi is known for his themed children’s photoshoots. The photographer has gone viral a few times, once with a Beauty and the Beast-themed photoshoot, then again with a Wonder Woman shoot in 2016. It was the feedback and comments Rossi received on his Wonder Woman project that inspired his latest series.

Rossi told Babble that he received comments from people sharing stories of their own children and that parents would tell him that their sick children were the real heroes. The photographer decided that his next project would be a Justice League-themed series.

“I decided that I needed to find the REAL superheroes out there, and do a photo shoot of them,” he said.

Rossi selected kids whose challenges or personalities matched those of the Justice League’s heroes and then transformed the kids into The Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, Batman and Cyborg to flip the script and make what could be seen as weakness into a strength.

Read on to see the REAL Justice League.

Superman

Superman may be the Man of Steel but he is also a man of great heart and that is what made Teagan Petit a perfect Superman for Rossi’s shoot. Teagan was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) which means the little boy was born with only half a heart. Rossi compares Teagan’s condition to Superman’s weakness around Kryptonite, writing on his blog that Teagan’s weakness is that, due to only having half a heart, he cannot regulate his body temperature.

That hasn’t slowed Teagan down, though. Despite taking daily medication and wearing an oxygen mask at night, the little boy continues to fight and recently won a huge victory when doctors were able to remove his feeding tube.

The Flash

Rossi reimagined the Scarlet Speedster as a little boy named Zaiden whose boundless energy and love of running isn’t always seen in a positive light. The little boy, who has ADHD, has gotten into trouble in school as well as lead to him not being invited to birthday parties. This, Rossi, explained, made Zaiden a perfect Flash.

“I thought that turning Zaiden into The Flash would be perfect,” Rossi said. “Maybe now his friends will not only invite him to their parties but ask him to bring the suit and be the life of the party.”

Cyborg

Double amputee Kayden Kinckle was a natural choice for Cyborg. The 5-year-old was born with a condition that causes the internal organs to grow outside the navel which lead to the amputation of both of his legs, but the condition hasn’t slowed him down.

“After seeing Kayden in person, I couldn’t believe how strong he was. At a young age, he was learning how to walk with prosthetic legs, he told his mom he wanted to do it by himself and didn’t want any help,” Rossi said.

Wonder Woman

Radiation therapy to battle a rare form of cancer may have taken young Sofie Loftus’ hair and left her weak, but it hasn’t diminished her strength to fight making her a perfect choice for Wonder Woman. According to Rossi, the little girl had even had radiation right before her photo shoot and still found the strength to do it anyway.

Aquaman

Not only does 2-year-old Mataese Manuma look the part of Aquaman, but Rossi describes boy as a “powerhouse.”

Matese, who has a rare form of cancer called acute megkaryoblastic leukemia, had to have his photo shoot delayed for a few days when he woke up with a fever after finishing a round of chemo, but once he was feeling better he was more than ready for his turn as Aquaman.

Batman

Rounding out the Justice League is 5-year-old Simon Fullmer. Simon is battling a rare form of nerve cancer. A huge fan of Batman (and Bruce Wayne,) Simon is described as being “a quirky strong kid who never complains.”

Sounds like the traits of an excellent Batman to us.