AP photographer finds beauty at the Paralympics in capturing what’s not there

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Paralympic athlete Arjola Dedaj, of Italy, competes at Women’s Long Jump -T11, at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Gus Jinchena, of China, practices the start of the race during a warm up session ahead of a competition, during the 2024 Paralympics, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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B Hatz, of USA, competes at Women’s Long Jump -T64 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Gabriel Araujo, of Brasil, celebrates after winning at men’s 200 m Freestyle -S2 final, during the 2024 Paralympics, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Aleksandr Iaremchuk, of NPA, celebrates after winning at Men’s 1500m - T46 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Ugo Didier, of France, celebrates by hitting the water after winning the Men’s 400 Freestyle -S9, during the 2024 Paralympics, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Camila Muller, of Brasil, competes at Women’s 1500 -T11 at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Jiamin Zhang, of China, competes at Women’s Shot Put -46 Final, at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Fans of the Brazil Mens’ Goalball team cheer for the team on Friday, August 30, 2024 at the South Paris Arena during the Paralympic Games in Paris. Brazil won the match 13-8. (AP Photo/Nathalee Simoneau)

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Paralympic athlete Ugo Didier, for France, celebrates at the podium after winning the Men’s 400 Freestyle -S9, during the 2024 Paralympics, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Sevilay Ozturk, of Turkey, adjusts her glasses during a warm up ahead of the competition, during the 2024 Paralympics, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Chris Kinda, of Namibia, removes the mask that prevents him from seeing as he competes at Men’s 100m -T11 at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Fabiola Ramirez, of Mexico, takes the start at the Women’s 100m Backstroke -S2, during a heats swimming serie at the 2024 Paralympics, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Athletes compite at Men’s 100m T54 Round 1 Heat 2/2 at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Andrei Vdovin, of NPA, reacts after winning at Men’s 400m -T37 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Medina Meneses, of Colombia, competes at Men’s Javelin Throw F34 Final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Gabriel Araujo, of Brasil, spits water to celebrate his victory at the Men’s 100m backstroke -S2 final, during the 2024 Paralympics, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Fabian Blum, of Switzerland, competes at Men’s 400m - T52 round 1, at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Katie Pegg, of Canada, competes at Women’s Shot Put -46 Final, at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Paralympic athlete Zsanett Adami-Rozsa, of Hungary, is helped by members of her team before to enter at the swimming pool during a heats swimming serie at the 2024 Paralympics, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Catherine Debrunner, of Switzerland, celebrates after winning at Women’s 5000m - T54 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Gus Jinchena, of China, jumps into the pool, during a warm up session ahead of a competition, during the 2024 Paralympics, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Mauricio Valencia, of Colombia, reacts after getting the second position at Men’s Javelin Throw F34 Final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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Blind paralympic soccer players from France and China compete in a Preliminary Round Group A - Match 4, at the Eiffel Tower Stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

By EMILIO MORENATTI

PARIS (AP) — Emilio Morenatti, 55, is the AP’s chief photographer for Spain and Portugal. His worldwide coverage has earned him numerous awards, including a Pulitzer Prize. Morenatti, who lost a leg in Afghanistan in 2009, was in Paris to cover his third Paralympics this summer. This is his account of the experience.

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When I’m covering the Paralympics, I feel I get a lot back from the athletes. What you see is a lot of energy. Athletes are pushing themselves to the maximum.

Sometimes I focus not on the first athlete to finish, but the last one. It’s kind of a metaphor for highlighting the strength of people with disabilities.

My own disability helps break barriers. When the athletes see my prosthetic, they know that like them I had to overcome some obstacles in my career, and that creates a connection between us. Sometimes we talk about prosthetics and the complications with them. The conversation creates empathy between us.

I try to be as respectful as possible. I try to make beautiful photos of a disabled body. My aim is to capture the part of the body that is not there anymore, an absence that needs to be accepted. Many athletes are helped by technology, a prosthetic or something that helps the athlete to run or jump. Except in swimming. In swimming there’s just a body. There is a beauty in that.

An athlete who impressed me is Gabriel Araujo from Brazil. I followed him from London and Tokyo. He’s an incredible swimmer without arms, with short legs, with an incredible energy.

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His only way of celebrating is showing his tongue. When he shows his tongue it’s like when others raise an arm. It’s a different type of body language. It’s something really special.

When I lost my leg in 2009, I was in one of the best moments of my career. And then I thought, ‘this is the end. This is where I have to shift to become an editor, because my mobility is gone.’ But that feeling stayed with me only for a few months. Then I decided that my amputation is not in my head, but my leg, so I will find my way.

From that time, I decided I will try to get my cameras back again and continue being a photographer and doing what I really love. Somehow, I found my way.

I’ve been able to get closer to people with disabilities. I’ve found a way to describe disability through photography. I feel very useful doing it. I won’t say that the amputation helped my life, but it helped me find this new angle to my photography.

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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)