And There Was Light...

I just finished reading an extraordinary book, "And There Was Light: Autobiography of Jacques Lusseyan, Blind Hero of the French Resistance." Jacques, who lost his sight at age eight, was a visionary, and his book is amazing on so many levels.

Jacques did not believe he was handicapped. In fact, he writes so eloquently about how he has been given this gift of blindness, which not only heightens his other senses, but gives him more awareness and intuition. As the leader of a youth resistance movement during World War II, he recruited members and insisted on meeting them in person to get a sense of their character. Although his intuition failed him once, which led to his betrayal, it also helped him to survive a French prison and a German concentration camp.

This rich story is enhanced by his beautiful prose and his thoughts on courage, intuition, friendship, humanity, spirituality, vision and truth. He writes of two truths: "The first of these is that joy does not come from outside, for whatever happens to us it is within. The second truth is that light does not come to us from without. Light is in us, even if we have no eyes."

All so true.

The story reminded me of a blind man that I photographed in Mexico. He sat in a wheelchair in a public park, covered in a bright yellow blanket. A friend had asked to photograph him earlier and he had refused. Somehow I knew I had to ask him myself, and for some reason he accepted my request. What did I have to offer him? He would never see the photo. But I knew that I had to give it my best shot, and portray him with the dignity and respect I felt he deserved. I got low, as the afternoon sun was just hitting his face. I took a few shots, thanked him profusely and bought him a cold drink, which was all he asked for in return. We spoke little, but both enjoyed the connection we had just made. There was something there, a light in this man's eyes (although he could not physically see) that told me that he had seen a lot in his lifetime. The light was outside and within. I hope that I captured that in this image.

Trust your gut, look for the light, connect. Click.