Portraits of People in the American Council of the Blind

In this Portrait project, American Council of the Blind members — who are blind or who have low-vision — were invited to have a portrait taken of them, from the shoulders up, on a black background. The images are shot very tightly, as a way to position the viewer to focus on the person's face and humanity. The participants also were guided through the process of making an Audio Description of the portrait. The descriptions provided here are based on what the person in the image wanted to say about themselves, after being guided through a series of prompts about potential topics of interest for their viewers/listeners, including name, gender, age, race/ethnicity, fashion/attire, facial expression, body shape/size, and any other aspects of their appearance they wanted to mention. The people in the portrait also were asked if they wanted to share the description with a first-person or third-person point of view.

Photos

Portrait of Anthony Akamine

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Photo of Anthony Akamine, smiling. He is middle-aged, of a medium-build, and Asian American of Japanese and Okinawan descent. He is clean-cut with short and spiky dark-brown hair, and no facial hair, except his eyebrows. He is wearing a fashionable, Aloha-print shirt with floral and geometric designs, mixing light purples and greens with dark brown backgrounds.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Cynthia Hirakawa

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Cynthia Hirakawa is shown laughing. She is wearing a teal, collared shirt. She is of Okinawan descent.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Vickie Kennedy

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Vickie Kennedy, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a three-quarter-sleeved blouse that alternates between light- and dark-green vertical stripes, with a gold necklace featuring a turtle shape highlighted with a black pearl where the shell would be. I'm 76 years old, 5-foot-2, and of mostly Japanese descent with a hint of French and English. I have short silver-black hair, and I'm giving a neutral expression but feeling powerful and at-peace on the inside.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Kyle Sabrina Laconsay

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: This image of Kyle shows her smiling, from the shoulders up. She is wearing a paisley headband that has blues and oranges and a peachy background, which complements her peach-colored blouse. Kyle is a petite, Filipino woman, wearing sunglasses, and she holds her white cane close to her side.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Roy Nakasato

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Roy Nakasato, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a straw hat, with a black band around its base; I have been told that this hat makes me look debonair. Tufts of my silver hair poke out from underneath it, giving me a youthful look, even though I'm a senior kupuna. I'm slim, Asian, and known for my positive mood.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Cha Smith

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: My name is Cha, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a black, Aloha-print shirt, decorated with light-green bamboo leaves. I'm an older haole woman of Western European descent. I have short hair, which is mostly black with some gray on the sides. I have brown eyes, and in this photograph, I'm looking directly at the viewer.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Photo of Myles Tamashiro

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: I'm Myles, and this image shows me from the shoulders up. I'm wearing a blue Aloha-print shirt, with white Hawaii-themed designs on it. I have medium-length silver hair and a silver mustache. I'm smiling subtlely, into a warm natural light coming from my right.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.

Portrait of Roberta Tomas

DESCRIBING: A vertical photograph, taken June 4, 2022 DESCRIPTION: Dr. Roberta Tomas is shown, from the shoulders up, smiling and facing the viewer. She is a Native Hawaiian, with a light-brown skin tone, and her dark-brown hair is held up in a ponytail by a palapalai fern hairband. She is wearing a dark-blue t-shirt that shows the Hawaii Association of the Blind logo. She was the first blind person to be licensed as a medical doctor or psychiatrist in the state of Hawaii.

Courtesy of Brett Oppegaard.