Prologue
Sometimes one photograph holds more than words.
This is the story of a woman who faces the fear of losing her vision every single day. But even more, it is a story of her courage to remain herself, to seek support, and to open up through photography.
!!! If you came here from Instagram: scroll down to read the full interview in Unblind Girl's own words.
The Story
Unblind Girl, 33, from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
In 2020, during COVID, Unblind Girl noticed the first signs that something was wrong with her sight. By 2022, after the war and displacement, her vision worsened dramatically.
Today, her right eye is completely blind. Her left eye sees less than 10%. A major surgery is planned for September 25, 2025, in Germany, Konstanz.
No guarantees — that’s also part of the truth. But there is still hope.
I am a humanitarian photographer. My role is to stay close, listen, and show care.
Recently, we did a photo session together.
Water covered her body, leaving only her gaze and reflection.
It’s so hard for me to look at myself without this lens… I always cherished my vision; it was my greatest value. When I lost it, I probably became like this photo — distorted, like in water. And I became like an iceberg — I disappeared, simply, my whole body sank under the water.
So that I wouldn’t have to feel anymore, not to perceive things the way I used to.
And yet, under the water, it’s as if I’m still fighting against the current, still doing something….
Photography as Healing
Photography is not about beauty, it is about honesty.
Photography is when you silently scream.
When you go through the lens, you say and show so much that words cannot describe.
During this session, I felt safe, I felt accepted. I was open.
For me, this will leave a deep mark on my life.
In the photo with the magnifier, I am afraid.
There is so much there!
It feels like I am looking at myself through this glass.
I so want to see myself.
I need it so much.
When we took the feather and the stone, I realized: there is more meaning in these frames than in anything I could add in words.
They speak of feelings.
Of soul.
Of vulnerability, of weakness.
And of the strength we carry within us
Alinа, you were like a mantra for me during the shoot. I felt safe, I felt the world — water, sun, shore.
I was open,
I was accepted.
Full acceptance.
This will leave a deep mark in my life
About Support
Unblind Girl speaks openly about what she longs for right now:
“Support. Connection. Hugs! I miss hugs so much. Maybe I will just stand and cry. Maybe in silence, maybe trying to speak.
For me, real support is live connection. And yes, comments. Preferably kind ones (she laughs), but whatever they are…”
UNBLIND GIRL: I am from Kharkiv, Ukraine. I turned 33 this year.
Q: When did your vision problems begin, and how fast did it progress?
UNBLIND GIRL: I am diabetic, but the problems with my vision began in January 2020, during COVID. It all happened very quickly with my right eye — blurred spots, floating shadows. I went to Kharkiv hospital, then to many clinics in Kyiv and Kharkiv, trying to understand what was happening. Doctors suggested it could be connected to immunity, COVID, and my diabetes.
In 2020 and 2021, before the war, I was still trying to save my right eye. I visited every major clinic possible. At that time, I could still see poorly, but at least something. In 2021 my left eye was fine. Doctors told me: watch yourself, eat well, stay in a healthy rhythm.
But in May 2022, after one accident, things changed. My right eye collapsed completely. By November 2022, I fled Ukraine with my sisters.
Now, my right eye doesn’t see anything. My left eye — about 10%, maybe less.
Q: What treatment have you gone through in Germany?
UNBLIND GIRL: Doctors tried everything: monthly injections into the eye (Eylea therapy), laser corrections, even hormone injections (Ozurdex). For one short moment, I regained about 60% vision, and I was so happy, it gave me hope… but complications came: dangerously high eye pressure, cysts between the retina, damaged macula.
In 2025, on September 25, in Konstanz I am scheduled for surgery — lens replacement. But doctors don’t give guarantees. It could stay the same, it could get better, or it could get worse. That fear is always with me.
Q: Tell me about the photoshoot. Why did you want to do it? How does this affect you emotionally?
UNBLIND GIRL: Alina, you ask really good questions. They made me realize: I want to do this now. I need this now. Because all this emotional, hidden human nature — hidden behind the body, behind clothes, behind skin — it is not eternal. And photography is the way to immortalize it.
On the photo with the magnifying glass, I am afraid. There is so much there! I feel like I am looking at myself through it. I want to see myself again so much. I miss my normal state.
The neck, that’s my weak spot. I carry so much pain and a lump in my throat. It’s the place where you cannot say something, cannot open up, cannot be fully honest, because you fear being crushed by it.
And yet… I try.
I always loved photography. In my teens, I photographed everything — people, flowers, life around me. I also loved being photographed. For me, photography is about honesty, about showing a person as they are.
I was scared to do this session. So scared. But I needed it. Photography is when you silently scream, when you show through the lens what words cannot describe.
When I put on the lens in my eye, and took the magnifier… it was like tearing off a mask. Showing that one of my eyes is blind, the other barely sees. I stood like that in front of myself. I saw myself in the water, in distorted reflection, and later — in the photo. I showed myself to myself.
It was catharsis. A release. I felt like I dropped a heavy weight.
Q: What was my role, as photographer, in this process?
UNBLIND GIRL: You were a mantra for me. I felt safe, I felt the world — water, sun, shore. I felt accepted, fully accepted. That is rare. That is why this session will leave a deep mark in my life.
I trusted you. I don’t know how to explain… maybe because of how you see people, how you catch light, how you notice moods. With you, I didn’t have to hide.
Q: What has changed after this session?
UNBLIND GIRL: I see myself. Even with blindness, even with fear, I still see myself. And that heals me.
Q: Anything else you want to say?
UNBLIND GIRL: I didn’t lock myself into a corner — society did.
Society that you have to “fit into,” society that demands normality.
Society that keeps saying: go, go, get a job! Go, go, be like everyone else, take the courses!
During this whole time, I was pushed into German courses. I passed B1 on the first try — maybe for some it’s simple, but for me it was a huge effort. I also completed the Deutschland information course. Then they forced me to go to work, and I had to prove that I couldn’t. That I’m not able to work right now. And while I was proving it, my eyesight got worse several times.
They gave me B2. But in the B2 test, I think I missed three points… I simply couldn’t see the reading part properly. Does that surprise you?
I wanted so badly to pass it. To prove to myself and to this society that I could. But I couldn’t.
Now I’m giving myself time. September 25 — the surgery. Recovery. And then to prepare for the exam again, and retake it. Yes, by then I will have forgotten some of the material, but I still have the book with me. I can bring it back into memory.
I want to get that B2 certificate. I want to work here. I don’t want to sit on social benefits anymore. I want to be “normal” in this society.
I want to be the girl I used to be: with my hobbies, with my energy. I want to go to the gym again. I really want that. Now I run, and I do stretching at home, but I also want to get stronger. I need it.
And while I’m doing all this, I keep listening to audiobooks. I’m working so much on myself.
I value it all. And I know when I get through this process, I’ll value it even more.
Alina… you are the first new person in a long time to whom I can say this: I love you for being in my life. For showing me to myself. For not being afraid of my vulnerability.
That is a gift I will always carry.
Q: What do you long for most right now?
UNBLIND GIRL: Support. Connection. Hugs! I’ve missed hugs so much. I just want to be held. I will probably just stand and cry — maybe silently, maybe trying to speak. For me, real support is live connection.
And yes, comments. Preferably kind ones (she laughs), but whatever they are.
This story is not only about vision.
It is about how to stay alive and honest in the moments when body and world around test your strength.
Every day we walk beside people whose stories we don’t know.
Let our response be one of tenderness and attention.