An Artist with Face Blindness (Prosopagnosia)

[NationalTitles18]

Prosopagnosia: The artist in search of her face

Carlotta is a prolific self portrait artist from Munich with prosopagnosia - face blindness.

www.bbc.com

Carlotta has never been able to recognise faces, neither the faces of other people, nor her own. Her condition, face blindness, has had a major effect on her life but has also given her a sense of purpose as an artist - to make self-portraits of the face she cannot picture in her mind.
Carlotta sits down to draw a self-portrait. The room is very dark, lit just by a few candles. She doesn't need light, because she's not using a mirror or a photograph - instead, with one hand she traces the contours of her face, while her other hand sketches the shapes on paper.
"It's always a surprise when I see my drawings in daylight," she says.
Her apartment is filled with self-portraits - about 1,000 of them, she thinks. Each one is completely different, and they have an otherworldly quality. Shapes overlap. Several heads may be projected on top of each other, sometimes upside down. In one, she has three eyes, in another six.
If she catches sight of herself in a mirror, Carlotta will think, "the woman looking at me is in my nightie and in my flat, so it must be me". She will also recognise her hair - it's what happens underneath those grey curls that's a mystery.

 

[J0eW]

Prosopagnosia: The artist in search of her face

Carlotta is a prolific self portrait artist from Munich with prosopagnosia - face blindness.

www.bbc.com

Fascinating. I vaguely recall encountering an article on this condition years ago. The workings ( or malfunctioning) of the brain are strange indeed.

Oliver Sacks wrote this https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/1491514078. The movie "Awakenings" was based on Sack's experiences with victims of encephalitic comas, thought to be related to the great influenza pandemic of 1918. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=awakenings&atb=v1-1&ia=web

The brain is a strange thing indeed.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Fascinating. I vaguely recall encountering an article on this condition years ago. The workings ( or malfunctioning) of the brain are strange indeed.

Oliver Sacks wrote this https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Mistook-His-Wife/dp/1491514078. The movie "Awakenings" was based on Sack's experiences with victims of encephalitic comas, thought to be related to the great influenza pandemic of 1918. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=awakenings&atb=v1-1&ia=web

The brain is a strange thing indeed.

I have a much milder version of this condition, or at least I've self-diagnosed with the aid of a test. It's annoying and can be embarrassing when you don't recognize someone you absolutely "should".

 

[J0eW]

I have a much milder version of this condition, or at least I've self-diagnosed with the aid of a test. It's annoying and can be embarrassing when you don't recognize someone you absolutely "should".

Good luck with your condition. Is it something that will get progressively worse?

I can relate. Three years ago I was diagnosed with a neuropathy, CIDP. A year ago, I began questioning the diagnosis. A visit to the Mayo Clinic last spring confirmed my suspicions. A genetic sample and test determined that I have a condition called CANVAS. I now know the name of the bullet that has my name on it.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Good luck with your condition. Is it something that will get progressively worse?

I can relate. Three years ago I was diagnosed with a neuropathy, CIDP. A year ago, I began questioning the diagnosis. A visit to the Mayo Clinic last spring confirmed my suspicions. A genetic sample and test determined that I have a condition called CANVAS. I now know the name of the bullet that has my name on it.

It shouldn't worsen - it just is.

Hate that you have that. I hope that a treatment can help or one can be found.

 

[J0eW]

It shouldn't worsen - it just is.

Hate that you have that. I hope that a treatment can help or one can be found.

I am hoping that it will not get worse. But that goes against what the Mayo docs say. However it is better to be prepared than to bury ones head in the sand.