Con magnífica ironía

A beautiful photograph of Borges in his library in Buenos Aires by Eduardo Comesaña, 1971.  For the past several months, and as an extension of my project “Olmedini El Mago”, I’ve been researching the ways blindness is represented in art, particularly in photography.  The results of my inquiry are posted to my instagram account: @jaime_permuth

 “Nadie rebaje a lágrima o reproche

esta declaración de la maestría

de Dios, que con magnífica ironía

me dio a la vez los libros y la noche”.

Ferry across the island

A few days ago, Olmedini mentioned how he often used to take the Staten Island Ferry in the days before he lost his sight. He also said that trying to do magic onboard was a waste of time because everybody was so enamored by the views of Manhattan.

So I asked him to join me for a boat ride, after I was done teaching for the day at New York Film Academy, right down the street from the Ferry Terminal.

A single focus, two paths.

Through the many years of my professional practice, I have never before done a long-term documentary project that focused on a single individual.

Inevitably, this means that there are two different roads that stretch into the future: one is the path of the project, which extends as long as there are photos to be made; the second one is the path of friendship, which continues as long as there are words and moments to be shared.