Jed Fielding's Photographs Shed New Light On Blindness

By Jen Hazen in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 11, 2009 6:20PM

We’re kicking ourselves for waiting so long to see the Cultural Center’s exhibition of works by Chicago-based photographer Jed Fielding—Look at me: Photographs from Mexico City. The exhibit, which closes on Tuesday, July 7, displays Fielding’s candid portraits which intimately examine facial features and gestures of blind children, affirmatively stripping away self-consciousness while celebrating their lives and confronting the concept of “disability”. The photos were taken at children’s schools for the blind in Mexico City, in collaboration with the children, their parents, as well as teachers.

Fielding’s human exploration of vision, perspective and vitality are captured by his acute detail to light and shadow, surface, and design, where documentary-style street photography meets portraiture. Some may feel that the aesthetics of Fielding’s photographs are disturbing, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? And maybe that notion should be questioned more often.

Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries, 78 E. Washington, Exhibit runs through Tuesday, July 7. General gallery hours: Monday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Free.