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Photographer John Dugdale uses a nineteenth century process to produce cyanotypes - blue tinted photographs, in this case on heavy watercolor paper, whereby the natural light of the sun is used to develop the image, therefore eliminating the need for a darkroom. Legally blind and with only 8% vision (I need to check this) remaining as the result of C.M.V., Dugdale's self-portrait shows him sporting a black eye, looking resigned, towards the camera. The photograph was taken at the height of his fading vision; the injury was incurred by walking into a doorframe at his home as he adjusted to his fading sight. The portrait evidences the artist's tenacity and pugnacious attitude toward his illness. Without the background knowledge to the photograph, we fantasize about his assailant or the mishap, which caused such a classic black eye; the artist holds his head with one hand and shares his unhappiness with his situation. Dugdale conveys the reality of "fighting" the restraints of living with AIDS with dramatic effect. Paradoxically (for the sighted viewer), he uses the camera lens to voice his frustration at his loss of vision, an outwardly "invisible" effect of AIDS which becomes manifest in this self-portrait.