Unseen

This portrait depicts a young boy that had been brought into a clinic provided by an Australian not for profit organisation, Eyes for Africa. The doctors donate their time and expertise to perform cataract surgery for people in Ethiopia that live in very remote areas of the country and have no means of affording eye care. While this boy was waiting to see a doctor he sat for a portrait for me. At this moment he didn’t know where to look to find me or the camera. Shockingly, in the next series of images, he looks up and follows my voice to find the camera. It becomes evident this boy is blind. Corneal scaring from infection due to lack of proper hygiene or perhaps even an injury to the eye will result in permanent loss of vision. In his case nothing could be done to restore his vision.