As a legally blind photographer I have overcome the barriers, obstacles and challenges of producing and exhibiting my art. My limited visual acuity – total blindness in my left eye and limited peripheral vision, no central vision in my right eye – permits me to see the world like an impressionist painting. My artwork is an experimentation with enhanced photographic views and perspectives. I entered the field of contemporary visual art with extensive art education (MFA in Photography) combined with fifteen years work experience as a professional fashion photographer. In 1991 I was diagnosed with AIDS and in 1996 became legally blind due to a related condition, Cytomegalovirus Retinitis. My submission is a series of self- portraits which represent the physical, psychological and emotional weight of sight loss. The images illustrate an inner journey involving my fears about becoming totally blind. This is a journey towards infinite darkness in which physical sight is diminished and obscured but my artistic vision, my “Blind Vision,” is enhanced.
My work has been featured in many exhibitions including; four exhibitions at the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington DC; the “Sight Unseen” exhibition which opened in 2009 and is touring internationally until 2015. In 2010 I was the recipient of the Arts Orange County Outstanding Artist Achievement award and in 2012 I received the CNN i-report award for a story on my artwork. My work is in the permanent collection of the Houston Fine Arts Museum and the National AIDS museum. Please refer to my resume (available on my Website: www.kurtweston.com for a complete exhibition history).
