Photographer Kevin Connolly is used to people staring at him. The 22-year-old American was born without legs, and he gets around on a skateboard, propelling himself with his hands. “Before pity, empathy or sympathy, there’s a moment of shock and curiosity,” Connolly says. “It’s mostly just slack-jawed: What’s that?”

In 2007, Connolly traveled around the world and took 32,728 pictures of people staring at him. Fifteen of his photos are on display in the Kennedy Center’s Hall of States, Washington DC. He calls it “The Rolling Exhibition.”

Rich, poor, young and old all stare at Connolly in photos from 15 countries. In Romania, a man in religious garb chats on a cellphone and looks at Connolly with a confused expression. In the Czech Republic, two castle guards in light blue uniforms march at attention, looking straight ahead. Connolly’s camera catches a third guard’s eyes glance downward at him.

To make people feel comfortable staring at him, Connolly held the camera near his hip and looked in the opposite direction. That way, people wouldn’t fear getting caught. Because he was unable to use the camera’s viewfinder, he memorized how to frame shots from his street-level perspective. He shot most of the photos while in motion; thus, “The Rolling Exhibition.”

People wondered why there was a man with no legs skateboarding next to them. A little boy in New Zealand asked him if he had been eaten by a shark. Someone in Sarajevo assumed he was a victim of the Balkan war. In his home town; a man asked him about Iraq and if he still wore his dog tags. Lots of people tried to give him money, thinking he was a beggar. (Ukrainians were the most aggressive. When Connolly refused their handouts, they shoved cash in his backpack.).

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