Photo exhibition raises awareness of blindness cause

His usual clientele includes Saoirse Ronan, Liam Neeson, and Naomi Campbell, but yesterday Barry McCall took a break from photographing famous faces to help raise awareness of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). AMD, which affects over 100,000 Irish people, is the leading cause of blindness in Ireland.

The ‘See the Whole Picture’ photography exhibition, unveiled yesterday at the National Gallery of Ireland, was created to support AMD Awareness Week which runs from September 25th – 30th. The campaign which is supported by the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI), Fighting Blindness, the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO), The National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) and Novartis Ireland aims to help the public visualise the symptoms of the condition and encourage regular AMD tests.

McCall worked with four individuals living with AMD to create a narrative about life with the condition, with real people at its centre, telling their story. He captured each individual’s passion as seen through their eyes to show how AMD has impacted their life. The portraits vary from early stages of the condition, blurred or wavy vision, to advanced stages, which manifests as a large black mark in the central vision. The striking portraits will serve as a reminder to everyone to take a couple of minutes to get their eyes tested regularly to ensure they ‘See the Whole Picture’ for years to come.

 Barry McCall says: “Vision is often something we take for granted, something we think will always be there. I want to help raise awareness of AMD because my sight is my craft, I don’t know what I would do without it. Working with people who have never let their condition get in their way was inspirational. I didn’t want to just photograph them, I wanted to capture their personalities and portray their strength. Hopefully their courage to share their stories will encourage others to get tested this week.”

Now in its 10th year, AMD Awareness Week aims to raise awareness of the condition and encourage the public to avail of a free AMD eye test. The symptoms often go unrecognised in the early stages so it is crucial that the public, especially those aged 50 and over, get their eyes tested regularly. The Novartis AMD Mobile Testing Unit will travel to five cities, Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, and Cork, this week, Tuesday 26th – Saturday 30th September, to provide free AMD tests to the public. Free AMD tests can also be availed of through participating optometrists nationwide. 

Eamonn O’Nolan, AMD patient and photography participant, remarked at the launch; “I would urge everyone to get tested for AMD, if caught early it is a very manageable condition. I was diagnosed with AMD 10 years ago. At first it came as a shock, but you learn to adapt. Simple things like swapping the fine print on a newspaper for the larger iPad text make a huge difference. Don’t leave it too late to be seen if you think something is wrong. A simple AMD test could save your sight.” 

For more information on AMD and free AMD testing locations, see www.amd.ie