The prosthetics artist has a background in special effects makeup. Two years ago, she set up the Alternative Limb Project. “Making an alternative limb is like entering a child’s imagination and playing with their alter ego,” says Sophie de Oliveira Barata. Since starting the Alternative Limb Project, she has created one leg with a stereo embedded in it and another that housed mini-drawers. “After losing a limb, a person isn’t the same. So this is a form of expression, a celebration. It’s their choice of how to complete their body – whether that means having a realistic match or something from an unexplored imagination.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
The ex-soldier was attempting to disarm IEDs in Afghanistan when he stepped on a device, losing an arm and a leg. “I’ve always been chilled out. Basically I thought, 'Blowing stuff up, that sounds like fun' – but I didn’t realise that included me. I kept calling myself an idiot, because I should have found the IED. I remember saying to the guys: ‘I’m sorry, I should have found it.’ And they said: ‘Don’t be stupid.’ When I was in a hospital in the UK, it became clearer that I had done everything I could have done.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
An actor and an aspiring TV presenter, she was born without part of her arm. “I’m currently acting and am definitely using my arm to my advantage. For my audition for a Halloween maze, I bit my fake arm off and literally had people crying. I do my makeup myself. I pull the fake skin off my arm with my teeth.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
The entrepreneur lost his leg after a car crashed into him while he was filling up his Ferrari with petrol. “I have four different legs, and I have to remember to take certain legs to certain places. For my everyday performance, I use my private healthcare leg. I have one for snowboarding and a running blade for marathons. In the summer I use Sophie’s with the tattoos. I spend a lot of time in Ibiza in the summer and they say: ‘Cool tattoos.’ I tell them it’s a false leg, then they get embarrassed. Then I say there’s nothing to be embarrassed about and they relax.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
The student, athlete and model was born without the lower part of her left arm and hand. “I’ve never really wanted to wear an arm. When I do wear something it doesn’t feel like me. It feels like another weight on. Then Sophie came along and I thought she was really interesting. It’s not like a limb; it’s like an accessory. You get strangers on the street that don’t realise I have one arm, so they stop and stare. And I don’t want them to think, 'Oh that poor disabled girl.' I want them to think, 'Wow, she’s hot.' With the snake arm, I feel like I have something added on. It’s like showing something of me, rather than just having nothing there.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
She lost her leg, aged two, when a bus jumped the kerb. In the same accident, her grandmother died. “I would describe myself as popular, medium-size, friendly. I have lots of friends and they like my legs. I’ve had approximately 12 made. When I showed them my blade, they asked me to play pirates, which I wasn’t surprised by because pirates have wooden legs. I never feel sorry for myself. I can’t think why. I just never seem to.” Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
This is made out of silicone. The thin, coloured sheets of 0.3mm silicone are applied to a base colour to create the different skin tones and depth of colour. This is made to match the amputee's other foot and has soft sections for comfort. There are probably about seven skin tones in that foot. Veins and freckles are then painted on by hand. Photograph: Nadav Kander/NYT Syndicate
