Emmy, five, was born with Down's syndrome in Denmark. The title of German photographer Mario Wezel's study of her and her family, One In Eight Hundred, refers to the odds that her parents, Martin and Karina, were given at their prenatal screening of having a baby with the condition.
The cut-off point for what is considered a high risk of Down's is one in 300 in Denmark – it's one in 150 in the UK, according to the charity Antenatal Results and Choices – so the couple were considered low-risk.
In high-risk cases, diagnostic testing – usually invasive, potentially risky, but accurate – is recommended by doctors. It was the ethics of this difficult medical decision that piqued the photographer's interest. "I started out wondering what I would do if I'd taken the test with my girlfriend," Wezel explains. "And I wanted to find out what everyday life is like for a child with special needs."
In Denmark, the more effective prenatal screening becomes, the fewer children are born with Down's syndrome, as couples make the painful decision to terminate a pregnancy. In 2012, there were only 20 Down's syndrome births in Denmark.
"Denmark is a progressive, well-educated country, so I found this trend a little at odds with that," the photographer says.
Martin and Karina have had to fight to keep Emmy in a local kindergarten, as opposed to a special school. Wezel says, "They've realised that inclusion seems not to be the most normal thing in Denmark."
He has built up a close relationship with the family over the past eight months, and photographs Emmy regularly. "She is trusting of strangers, so has always been relaxed around me," Wezel says.
He wants to improve his Danish and continue to document her life for as long as possible, he says. "I want to show how she sees the world, not how other people see her."
Mario Wezel is a finalist in the 2014 Sony World Photography awards. Winners are announced on 30 April, and shortlisted images go on show at Somerset House, London WC2, 1-18 May.
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