A photographer has revealed his unconventional family album which highlights his struggles as a single parent looking after his severely disabled child.

Leon Borensztein, who is originally from Poland, has decided to share a large part of a 30-year journey, which started just before the birth of his daughter Sharon, in a series of stark and poignant images which capture the most personal parts of his family's life throughout the past three decades.

When Sharon was still a young child, Mr Borensztein, now 68, was told that his daughter was legally blind, her fine and gross motor skills were undeveloped, and she had low muscle tone.

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Doting father: Photographer Leon Borensztein (left) has been caring for his severely disabled daughter Sharon (right) as a single parent for more than 15 years, all the while documenting her life with his camera

Memories: The 68-year-old photographer began taking pictures of his beloved daughter before she was even born. When Sharon was around 15 the courts denied her drug addict mother the right to see her

Beautiful baby: Mr Borensztein is releasing a series of images from throughout 30-year-old Sharon's life in a new book which reveals the difficulties of caring for those with disabilities

Sharon, who is now 30, was also on the autism spectrum, suffered from a seizure disorder, speech delays and more.

'As an artist and documentary photographer it was natural for me to photograph my daughter,' said Mr Borensztein, who has lived in the Bay Area of California for around 40 years.

'The impetus was getting more urgent as we were discovering the extent of her disabilities, and were living in darkness of uncertainty regarding her future.

'I was a single parent for more than half of her life. The stress of single parenthood is unbelievable; most fathers are leaving the family.

'In our case, her mother's addiction to drugs was worsening to such an extent that the courts took all her rights away.'

Mr Borensztein has chosen to release the personal images, along with details of his struggles, in a new book, which he has named after his daughter.

Uncertainty: Shortly after Sharon was born, her parents were told that she suffered from a number of disabilities; she was legally blind, on the autism spectrum, suffered from a seizure disorder, and more

Treatment: Mr Borensztein's images document a number of Sharon's hospital stays, the procedures that she has undergone, and her recovery

'My heart is warming up': While choosing the images that he wanted to use in his book, Mr Borensztein admits that he felt a surge of love for his daughter

Mr Borensztein's previous work includes American Portraits, a project which gained worldwide attention, and featured a series of portraits he took while working as a commercial photographer during 1979-1989.

His last book, One is Adam One is Superman, helped spread the understanding about disability and about the positive influence people with disabilities have on public at large.

Mr Borensztein's latest book, Sharon, is a more difficult and personal project for him as he looks to share part of his life with readers to raise awareness of disabilities and challenges of being a single parent.

'Lately, on the long nights I had spent looking at and choosing the photographs of Sharon, my response was very sentimental and loving,' he said.

'Looking at Sharon's face, I smile, my heart is warming up, I say a word or two to "her", stroke the picture and on a few occasions I kissed the image. Looking at her happy face, I miss her terribly.

'But when I am going through the text of my diaries, my emotions are totally the opposite. I do not see her image when I read my own writing - words which mostly I wrote under stress.

Stress and strain: Mr Borensztein admits that his diary entries during the past 30 years portray a variety of emotions, clearly revealing the stress, anger and frustration that he has so often felt

Stages of life: The images that are featured in Mr Borensztein's new book, Sharon, document his daughter throughout her life, from the days before she was born, then as a young child, through until the present day

Fundraising: Mr Borensztein is hoping to fund the publication of his book through a Kickstarter campaign

Caring father: In order to ensure that his daughter has received the best care and attention, Mr Borensztein (pictured) admits he has had to make numerous sacrifices

'The writing brings back moments of utter frustration, desperations, times bordering on insanity.

'My text sometimes brings tears to my eyes. It's hard to believe what we went through.'

Mr Borensztein decided it was a good time to revisit his project and complete it with Sharon now living in a home nearby.

He said: 'For years I had been looking for a decent place for Sharon to live. About a year and half ago I did find a good place, far way from being perfect, but something I could live with (actually she lives there).

'But the real reason for researching for a good living situation for Sharon was that if something would happen to me, and I could not oversee her care, the state (California) would place Sharon in the first available group home.

'Usually those are places that I would not put my daughter in. And also the transition would be very difficult on Sharon if I would not be around.

Complicated issues: On the Kickstarter campaign page, Mr Borensztein explains that the book will not just be a 'fine art book', it will also 'shed the light on many important issues like: disability, single parenthood...'

Nearly there: Thus far, Mr Borensztein's Kickstarter page has raised more than $16,000 out of the $21,000 needed to reach his end goal - the publication of the book dedicated to his daughter (pictured)

Independence: Sharon (pictured) is currently living in a home near her father's house. He explains that he moved her into a home so that she will be well cared for in case something should ever happen to him

'It was important that I would be here, choose good place and help her with the transition. Now she has a good place, I am here seeing her often, and it's made the whole transition much easier.'

Mr Borensztien is currently looking for help in funding the project through a Kickstarter campaign.

'This book is very important, it's a fine art book, but it also sheds the light on many important issues like: disability, single parenthood, being a father of disabled female, and the list goes on and on,' he explained.

'To some extent it is also informative and my hope is that it will provide some valuable guidance to parents with disabled young children.'

Thus far, he has managed to raise $16,795, out of the $21,000 that is needed to fund the publication of the book.

'During the last thirty years we have been sailing through uncharted waters and it has been a difficult and very emotional journey,' Mr Borensztein explains on the website.

'It has been an emotional journey': Mr Borensztein explains that he has spent much of Sharon's life sailing through 'uncharted waters', not knowing exactly what they would have to face next

Personal cost: Mr Borensztein is incredibly blunt and honest about the difficulties he has faced during the past 30 years

Difficult decisions: While compiling the book, Mr Borensztein admits he faced a personal dilemma in terms of how to portray Sharon (pictured), wondering whether to focus on her beauty or her disabilities

'This book brought tough decisions to make: How should I, a documentary photographer and a loving father, portray my daughter?

'Should I flatter her and concentrate on how beautiful she is? Or should I concentrate on her disabilities? What about her mother? A good mother who turned to drugs and in the process lost all of her rights to Sharon.

'How can I visually depict the complexities and challenges facing someone who is a single parent to a child with many disabilities?'

He adds: 'This is going to be a high quality fine art book, but it will not be limited just to that. It is also a keen examination of the many aspects of disability.

'The horrifying statistics regarding woman with disabilities and what they can expect in their life are also included.

'I touch on the issue of personal sacrifice as taking on the total responsibility for a child with disabilities comes at a high personal cost.'