Sage Sohier’s Portraits of Children with Facial Paralysis

Most people I photograph are acutely aware of their imperfections and try to minimize them. Some have confided in me that, in their attempt to look more normal, they strive for impassivity and repress their smiles. They worry that this effort is altering who they are emotionally and affecting how other people respond to them. While most of us assume that our expressions convey our emotions, it seems that the inverse can also be true: our emotions can, in some ways, be influenced by our facial expressions.—Sage Sohier

For the past three years, Massachusetts-based photographer Sage Sohier has spent time in a facial nerve clinic in Massachusetts capturing portraits of people with facial paralysis caused by either Bell’s palsy, tumors, strokes, accidents, or congenital nerve damage. About Face offers what the photographer says is a fascinating view of two expressions at once, while honoring the courage required for one to cope with medical afflictions.

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