At the Paralympic Games, Picturing the Joy

Ian Gavan/Getty ImagesJoshua George racing through Parliament Square during the Virgin London Marathon in 2010.

The wheelchair racer Joshua George will be competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and will be writing for the 2012 London blog throughout the event.
LONDON–Outside the apartment building set to house the United States contingent in the Paralympic Village is an enormous picture frame with ornate scrollwork, spray-painted gold. The frame is held upright by two concrete blocks resisting the persistent wind that has whipped through the trees and flags lining the street in front of it since the day we moved in.
The frame itself is empty, the picture constantly changing depending on who is walking by, who stops to create their own picture and decides what is to be framed.
It was the first thing I was drawn to after the bus dumped us in front of the complex, posing for my royal portrait before I even threw my bags in my new home for the next two weeks. I’m sure more people will begin to take more notice of the frame once the Games begin, posing with medals won, framing their moment. Framing their Paralympic Games.