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“I WORRY THAT I might not be able to see anything eventually.”
Almost 100,000 people throughout Ireland are suffering from a chronic sight loss disease and a new photography project is showing people what it’s like to live with the condition.
Fashion photographer Barry McCall has worked with four individuals to create a visual narrative about life with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD is not as well-known as other eye diseases such as cataracts or glaucoma. However, it’s the leading cause of sight loss in people aged 50 and over in Ireland, with 7,000 new cases diagnosed each year in that population.
The disease causes the gradual loss of sight due to blurring or loss of central vision. It’s chronic disease and it can’t be cured, but early detection and treatment can prevent any further deterioration.
McCall captured each individual’s passion as seen through their eyes to show how AMD has impacted their lives. The portraits vary from early stages of the condition – blurred or wavy vision – to advanced stages, which manifests as a large black mark in the central vision.
[image alt="AMD Awareness Week 08" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/09/amd-awareness-week-08-296x197.jpg" width="296" height="197" credit-source="Andres%20Poveda" caption="The%20See%20The%20Whole%20Picture%20collection%20of%20portraits%20by%20photographer%20Barry%20McCall.%0A%0A" class="alignnone" /end]
One individual who took part in the project, Margaret Critchley, spoke to TheJournal.ie about how she discovered she had AMD and the impact it has had on her life.
“I was actually ironing the stripy shirts my husband had on a Sunday evening and I wondered why it was looking wavy. The stripes on the shirt looked wavy, which sounds crazy,” Critchley said.
“I just thought that I was really pretty tired. I didn’t think any more of it and I was in work looking at notice boards and I thought that they looked sort of crooked,” she said.
Critchley put one hand over her left eye and it was then that she realised her right eye was acting up. She headed to her opticians that night and from there she was immediately referred to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin for tests.
Despite regular check-ups, Critchley didn’t receive a formal diagnosis for a number of months. It was then that she received laser treatment, but the damage was already done.
[image alt="AMD Awareness Week 04" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/09/amd-awareness-week-04-296x197.jpg" width="296" height="197" credit-source="Andres%20Poveda" caption="The%20portraits%20illustrate%20how%20an%20individual's%20vision%20can%20become%20distorted%20by%20AMD%20and%20hope%20to%20serve%20as%20a%20reminder%20to%20all%20to%20have%20their%20eyes%20tested%20for%20AMD%20regularly.%20%0A" class="alignnone" /end]
Often undetected
The symptoms of AMD can often go unrecognised, and therefore healthcare professionals say it’s crucial that people over 50 get their eyes tested regularly so it can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
AMD affects the macula at the back of the eye, which is responsible for central vision and allows you to see detail.
There are two types of AMD – dry and wet.
Dry AMD is the most common (80-90%) and the mildest form of the condition. Very often patients with dry AMD maintain good central vision. There’s no known cure for the dry type, but progression can be slowed by stopping smoking, eating a healthy diet rich in leafy green vegetables, and looking after cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure.
Wet AMD is caused by leaky blood vessels inside the eye. It’s less common than dry AMD but it can cause more rapid loss of vision. It’s responsible for 90% of the cases of severe vision loss. Once it’s diagnosed and treated early, however, as much sight as possible can be saved.
Critchley was diagnosed with wet AMD. Once she was diagnosed, she received laser treatment, but the damage that was already done was irreversible.
“Once the damage is done, it’s done. I have the stress and worry of thinking I might not be able to see anything eventually, which may still be the case,” Critchley said.
Speaking of how to keep an eye out for symptoms, Critchley explained what to be cautious of: “It depends on how progressed it is but at the early stages you might just notice something looking slightly bent or misshapen. It’s not just a sharpness thing, it’s a distortion, edges won’t be as straight as they should be.
People who have a more advanced version of the condition describe it as looking through a mist, you know things aren’t as sharp as they should be.
“It’s not something that you necessarily realise is coming on. There’s no pain attached to it. If you go for regular checks it can get picked up so quickly and you can get whatever treatment is required.”
[image alt="AMD Awareness Week 09" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2017/09/amd-awareness-week-09-296x197.jpg" width="296" height="197" credit-source="Andres%20Poveda" caption="McCall%20worked%20with%20four%20individuals%20living%20with%20AMD%20to%20create%20a%20narrative%20about%20life%20with%20the%20condition.%0A%0A" class="alignnone" /end]
The See The Whole Picture photography exhibition has been created to support AMD Awareness Week which runs until Saturday 30 September.
Speaking about why he decided to get involved in the campaign, McCall said: “Vision is often something we take for granted, something we think will always be there.
“I want to help raise awareness because my sight is my craft, I don’t know what I would do without it.
Working with people who have never let their condition get in their way was inspirational. I didn’t just photograph them, I wanted to capture their personalities and portray their strength.
“Hopefully their courage to share their stories will encourage others to get tested this week,” he said.
Now in its 10th year, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the condition and encourage the public to avail of a free AMD eye test, to improve knowledge and understanding of the condition, so it can be diagnosed as early as possible.
The Novartis AMD Mobile Testing Unit is travelling around Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and Cork this week to provide free eye tests. A full list of venues and times can be found here.
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F*ck all of that 22 billion will go to the irish people! Its a disgrace where is our backbone, how many times are we going to be taken advantage of before people learn that they have to stand up for themselves.
25% of output to the Irish people is a good return for no public money invested, if we want the Norwegian model of 100% return we’d have to publicly fund the 100% of exploration cost.
25% of profits, that is. Oil companies are good at hiding their profits.
The last auction of exploration blocks there were essentially no bids. We don’t have high tax rates because nobody has managed to find anything profitable in the last 30 years. Norway definitely has oil, so lots of people bid to explore, if they don’t find anything the state refunds them 80% of their exploration costs, if they do they get taxed highly.
Ireland has almost no exploration going on offshore. In the last decade there has been a handful of exploration wells drilled. The day the oil industry starts making huge profits in Ireland I’m all for increasing the tax ten fold. Until then you don’t make money on Oil nobody has found.
The worst kinda of Irish person, against something they have no interest in learning about.
Johnny Reynolds thanks for your accurate definition of profit, but what’s your point ?
Spot on David Burke…we journal commentators like simplistic concepts, we especially don’t understand the difference between taking some profit and taking all of it is the difference between taxation and communism.
I presume his point is that output and profit are two completely different things. As Brian said, oil companies (and most big companies) are very good at hiding profits.
Isn’t that what we market ourselves to the world as, and why multinationals like Google, Apple, Facebook, Air BnB etc are here ?
THIS OIL AND GAS, people are killing for this. You cant compare this to google or yahoo, we didnt have anything to offer those companies besides tax incentives. These companies like providence are going to make billions and theyll give us a few hundred million just to keep the people happy. Providence is a shell company for other american oil giants like exon mobile. Its just their attempt to put an irish face on it. Please stop getting your information from RTE.
Just wait till somebody discovers WATER and starts selling that!
In Ireland? There’s none to be found.
Heard of the water charges ??
Best wishes to Tony O’Reilly and Providence Resources who are prepared to take risks that no bord of directors of any Irish semi state energy company such as ESB or BGE would have the courage to take. Providence are hoping to produce oil and gas which will potentially result in billions in taxes as required to ensure the Irish people continue to enjoy social welfare, schools, hospital, police, etc, on the contrary the non-risk takers at our energy semi-state companies are mostly focused on wind power where the guaranteed return is subsidised and guaranteed by the long suffering tax payer, and that subsidy dwarfs any profit returned to the public purse.
Billions in taxes?
What ESB which has got rid of 6500 staff, leaving them with roughly 7000 staff now? Who have built power stations and bid on contracts all over the world until they sold them off to pay a special dividend to the government this year?
Bord na Mona have a made a big shift into wind energy and made big profits last year.
Yeah those pesky facts.
Tony O’Reillys €450,000 plus pay packet ‘risk’ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/energy-and-resources/providence-says-barryroe-farm-out-nearing-completion-1.1908450
Bord Ma Mona is a subsidy junkie incapable of competing on a level playing field. BNM survived only because ESB were and still are forced to pay several times true value for wet turf even though gas and coal are less expensive. A good portion of the PSO levy on your electricity bill goes directly to subside the three turf burning station. Rather than being allowed to grab portion of the wind power subsidies BNM should be shut and the land sold.
As for ESB paying a special dividend, haven’t they asked for permission to borrow that money? It is just an exercise in re-labling a few hundred million of our national debt.
Best of luck!
Waiting for Boyd Barrett to start protesting about this. . Can’t be far off
As soon as the black gold starts flowing, Cork should declare its independence!! F3ck off with your 25%! It’s all ours!!
C’Mon Cork, rise up, our time has come!
Oh and by the way, the debt stays with the rest of ye!!
We would be willing to give ye a loan (from our oil revenues), $1bn (Rebel Dollars) at say, 125%APR.
Viva El Presidente Keano.
The clue is in the headline. The 25% is of corporate tax on profite earned through the sale of the oil. And already they claim to be losing money, so the way our tax structure is set up they will offset these losses against the 25% tax.None of this oil will be refined here instead it will be shipped to Wales or Rotterdam for refinement. And if we want it we’ll pay top dollar for it.
First of all we need a fairer tax system in place to ensure the government get a good tax return.
True, to set up a norwegian type system and go it alone by setting up a national oil company, will be a huge cost to the tax payer. But worth it in the long run. Norway was a poor enough country with limited funds before they discovered oil, but yet they did it. And now through a national fund the Norwegains hold 1% of the wealth in the world. They also hold 35% of the corrib gas field. They benefit more from gas from our territory than we do. And this is what is scandelous!
As a country we need to increase out tax rebate from oil and gas. The only reason it stays the at 25%(corporation tax) is by sucessful lobbying from the oil and gas industry, threatening to pull out of irish waters alltogether. But the fact is they need this oil as much as we do! And the other fact is governement coffers wont benefit from Barryroe and there’ll be no jobs as a result either(as its tied up by scottish+english oil workers)- i would know as i work in the Norwegian oil sector.
Dn, agree with you there, we do need to follow the Norwegian model. Invest the money and reap the rewards for the Irish people not a bunch of foreign investors etc.
It will need billions of investment but the long term rewards will more than pay it back
Don’t tell Dennis
Whale Oil Beef Hooked
Providence have now lost 167 Million in shareholders funds over the last 30 years. They have never sold a barrel of oil in ireland and this oil field was found 2.5 years and and nothing has happened in the meantime.
But sure we should tax them even more.
2.5 years isn’t a long time to wait. Oil prices are low at the minute so they may be timing it.
It takes a while to build a platform and lay pipes/manifolds/ SPMs etc.
What we only get 25% of the profit on this the oil around our shores are you kidding me.
Would you prefer 30-40% of zero instead of the current 25% of zero?
Which brings in more money?
I can hear them now in the Dail. ….If we strike a few billions worth let’s not tax it and let some business man witch political connections have it for free
“If”
Billions spent, not a drop found.
Climate change, sure what harm eh? Leave it in the ground if we are to possibly advert future mass destruction. Profit over planet and humanity. Completely insane and blinded by institutional greed and backward economics.
No oil means no plastic for the device you tapped your comment on.
No fertiliser to grow the food you eat today and no diesel to harvest it.
Its moot as there will probably be nothing found.
But feel free to live an oil free life.
Starvation is a bad way to go though.
Business Cat, I agree it is quite complex however time is drastically running out re climate change and it is happening with an overwhelming body of scientific evidence supporting it. Investing in renewable energy tech is whats needed. On that note I see the Rockerfellers have decided to do just that.
“No fertilizer to grow the food you eat today and no diesel to harvest it.” I’m a qualified horticulturist and can successfully grow healthier food free from fossil fuels while protecting and ensuring the long term health of the soil too. Of course easier said then done for many living in cities with small or no gardens but much land is being misused here. The present monetary system based on both debt and growth is at the core of the problem. We need a sustainable economic system.
Easy to say leave it the ground, okay if you wanna go back to living in a mud heat and burn peat
Stephen, that’s a very ignorant comment. I’ve lived and worked in various sustainable communities in Ireland, Portugal and Australia and have experienced the proper use of land, resources, natural building techniques, organic growing, renewable energy and Permaculture design. They have a far better quality of life then those living in say mainstream estates, developments etc.
Cob houses are far more energy efficient, sustainable, non toxic, longer life span and healthier to live in then so called “Conventional housing”. If that is what you meant by “Mud huts”?
Check these links out.. http://thehollies.ie/ and http://www.mudandwood.com/ and http://earthship.com/
Natural houses are very advanced today including both Cob houses and Earthships.
As I said earlier Horticulture / Design is my trade by profession but I have learned an equal amount on the forementioned in recent years as like many others I decided to “Be the change”. I thought like you guys 10 years ago but I was so very wrong. If you would like any further info then please feel free to contact me through my fb page. Regards!
Hi Stephen, Check following links.. http://thehollies.ie/ http://www.mudandwood.com/ http://earthship.com/ Re “Mud huts”, I can assure you that Cob houses and Earthships etc are far evolved from the days of mud huts! They are more energy efficient, non toxic, healthier houses, longer lasting etc then most “Conventional” mainstream housing and they don’t burn peat either.
I lived on a number of sustainable communities in Ireland, Portugal and Australia and learned about proper land and resource usage, organic food growing, renewable energy, advanced natural building, Permaculture design and so on. Ten years ago I would of been cynical and ignorantly critical of all of this but I’ve since learned the truth. I’m not patronizing you in anyway but what we have been “educated” on re energy, habitats etc is so backward and confined to blinkered monetarized thinking it is just mind baffling? Please feel free to contact me on my fb page should you require any further info or contacts. Many of these places have open days for all the public and you will be welcome.
Stephen, Sorry, first message did not post at first so I wrote another one! ;)
“Still losing money” at 7 million a year that is not a bad return if they get 22 billion……i think the losing money bit is for us moron citizens……
Rosnef and Exxon just discovered a Huge find in artic waters last week with exploratory wells indicating it could be bigger than the entire USA Gulf of Mexico . USA will likely start exporting crude due the success of fracking in previously closed wells and new wells , Russia is at the beginning of the fracking revolution and in the UK Shropshire region there’s huge potential for cracked crude . So if people think we are on a losing curve then think again . Mind you the price of crude will keep at or higher costs for time to come when ISIS disrupt the supply from Iraq , Syria and maybe Kuwait who knows what’s around the corner .
have your say