Face Of The Day

David Rosenberg sums up a series by Rubén Plasencia Canino:

While the power of the gaze is often admired in portraiture, there is still a mystery, or perhaps a fear, of trying to capture the gaze of the blind. In January 2013, photographer Rubén Plasencia Canino had an idea of photographing blind people, focusing specifically on their gaze, for a project he titled “Obscure.” To begin the project, he connected with ONCE, Spain’s national organization for the blind that helps create social benefits for blind and visually impaired people around the world. ONCE agreed to help out, and for two months Plasencia worked on a project he said was challenging but also one that “opened my eyes, and my heart, to a whole new world of sensations.” Plasencia said the project that forces the viewer to look directly into the eyes of the blind is similar to having an open book in front of you. “It’s an open window that looks out onto an unknown world,” he said via email. “If you look just a bit deeper, you can discover countless stories.”