{"id":27591,"date":"2019-07-31T15:25:56","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T19:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=27591"},"modified":"2019-08-01T11:02:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T15:02:06","slug":"undaunted-by-impaired-eyesight-alex-ogle-faces-lifes-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2019\/07\/undaunted-by-impaired-eyesight-alex-ogle-faces-lifes-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Undaunted by impaired eyesight, Alex Ogle faces life\u2019s challenges\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Despite

Alex Ogle<\/p><\/div>\n

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Alex Ogle is a communication major pursuing a career in photojournalism. She is also legally blind.<\/p>\n

Ogle\u00a0has\u00a020\/60\u00a0vision\u00a0in her right eye, which means she\u00a0must be\u202f20 feet\u202faway from an object that a person with normal vision can see at 60 feet. Her left eye, though, barely sees\u00a0anything at all.\u00a0\u201cIt’s kind of useless,\u201d she says. \u201cI see out of it, but not clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her love of photography came unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took photojournalism and didn’t think I would like it, but it’s amazing.\u201d\u00a0Classmates who had taken the course, Photo Journalism 1, kept raving about it being the best class ever and Alex decided she had to take the course. While her main motivation was to learn, there also was this one, little nagging matter at home. Alex\u2019s sister had complained about Alex\u2019s photos. She wanted to prove she could improve to sis.<\/p>\n

Ironically, Ogle couldn\u2019t figure out how to turn on the camera when she started, but she quickly learned the basics. With her\u00a0challenged\u00a0eyesight and lack of peripheral vision,\u00a0Ogle\u00a0uses a camera with autofocus to take clear photos.\u00a0\u201cI need to be able to zoom in and make sure it’s sharp,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It might seem obvious that she would struggle in photography, but Billy Weeks, UTC lecturer in communication and a professional photographer, says differently. \u201cHer images were unique from the beginning,\u201d he says. \u201cShe\u2019s really able to simplify what a photograph should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ogle was born at 24 weeks, when around 40 weeks is normal. She weighed one pound, five ounces and lived in a neonatal intensive care unit for three months. \u201cWe were told at the time that she had a 15-20 percent chance of survival,\u201d says her dad, Scott.<\/p>\n

Alex\u00a0lived but didn\u2019t escape difficulties.<\/p>\n

Doctors\u00a0learned Ogle had retinopathy\u00a0of prematurity,\u00a0a blinding disorder that affects premature infants weighing around 2\u00be\u00a0pounds\u00a0or less. It usually develops in both eyes and is\u00a0the most common form of visual loss in children.\u00a0There are varying stages of the disease,\u00a0which\u00a0means it\u00a0repairs itself\u00a0in some children while others\u00a0have\u00a0severe visual impairments\u00a0for life.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ogle\u2019s doctors suggested laser eye surgery when Alex was one month old to correct or, at least, save the small amount of eyesight she had. If they performed surgery, doctors said, they\u2019d have to do it immediately once detected. The\u00a0family\u00a0chose surgery.<\/p>\n

When she takes on a photography projects, Ogle concentrates on a single subject, getting her lens very close to what she\u2019s shooting so she can make sure the shot is in focus. The technique helps her tell a visual story through a series of photo projects that involve multiple photos taken over time, she says. It also allows her to show the empathy behind the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose to me have the most impact,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of my favorite parts about photojournalism is the empathy.\u201d\u00a0Alex\u2019s photos show depth, human character and emotion in every still image.<\/p>\n

There are times when her eyesight means she can\u2019t tell whether the photo is in focus before she takes it. It can be aggravating and disheartening, she says.\u00a0\u201cI see it differently, and sometimes it can be really frustrating,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her parents say that, even though their daughter\u2019s eyesight issues have always been in the back of their minds, they\u2019ve never treated her differently or tried to overprotect. She\u2019s played T-ball with her neighborhood friends and\u00a0joined some classmates on her high school\u00a0color\u00a0guard. Ogle\u2019s\u00a0grades were never an issue, either. She\u2019d sit on the front row\u00a0of classrooms\u00a0to be able to see better, and it would take her a bit longer to get assignments done. But she completed every assignment with\u00a0driven,\u00a0diligent work.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe works harder for everything she has,\u201d says her mother,\u00a0Lisa\u00a0Ogle, \u201cand has always been a perfectionist. It\u2019s not surprising she does the same with her photography.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet\u00a0there\u00a0have\u00a0been\u00a0a few health scares. There\u2019s a relatively high possibility that Ogle\u2019s retina will detach from her good eye, taking her sight away entirely. In one horrifying incident, she and her friends were playing baseball in the yard when a friend swung back with the bat and accidently hit Ogle in her good eye. Luckily, no serious damage was done.\u00a0\u201cIt was the one thing we were always told to protect,\u201d her mother says.<\/p>\n

Transportation\u00a0also\u00a0can be an issue since\u00a0Alex\u00a0is unable to\u00a0drive,\u00a0but\u00a0she rides her bike or walks to classes, getting around campus as easily as any other student.<\/p>\n

Ogle plans to graduate in fall 2019 and is hoping to land a photojournalism job, hopefully in a metropolitan area so she can use public transportation.\u00a0\u201cI would love to travel in really cool places and possibly live in New York,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her\u00a0parents support their daughter,\u00a0but\u00a0they\u00a0also have\u00a0normal\u00a0concerns.\u00a0Her father\u00a0knows there are inherent risks with her\u00a0future plans, but \u201cI just want her to be able to do things she loves to do and be self-sufficient,\u201d\u00a0he says.<\/p>\n

Even without her photography skills, Ogle is special, Weeks says.\u00a0\u201cTake away all of her great writing and photography and she\u2019s just a great person.\u201d<\/p>\n

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