ENTRY DESCRIPTION
If I waited half a second longer, he would have walked away. If I made the image three seconds sooner, his expression would have been muted, not fully ripe, and not nearly as interesting. Humans have mirror neurons. When we see a smile, we are unconsciously inclined to mimic that smile, and when we see a frown, the same is true. In this way, one can pull and direct another person’s expression, or amplify their emotion without ever saying a word. As I raised the camera, this gentleman looked at me with suspicion and skepticism. The longer I held his gaze, the more apprehensive he grew.

AUTHOR
I am legally blind. I have spent my whole life actively concealing this fact. Unless disclosed by me, it is not easily noticeable by others. However, photographically speaking, my vision influences my work in many important ways. I tend to work very close to my subjects and rarely use the viewfinder. These tendencies create an interesting dynamic in how subjects look at me and the camera. In addition to reciprocal eye contact, discarding the viewfinder removes barriers and allows for a more intimate exchange. Very influential, is the power of compensatory perception. That is, a heightened ability in one capacity derived from a deficit in another. To compensate for reduced acuity, I have naturally developed an increased sensitivity to facial affect. This sensitivity allows me to capture a subject’s peak state of emotion, communicating photographically, their most authentic self. As acclaimed film director Federico Fellini said “All art is autobiographical.” My style of composition and eyesight cannot be separated; one is the organic outcropping of the other.

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