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IBJI Physician's Photography Benefits the Sightless All Over the World
Dr. Michael Lewis has the hands of a surgeon, which he has been for over three decades. But he has the eyes of a photographer, and now, after 30 years and thousands of photographs, those eyes are helping the blind regain their sight.
 As an orthopaedic surgeon in Chicago's northern suburbs, as well as a team physician for several of Chicago's major sports teams (Bulls, Wolves, White Sox), Dr. Lewis has helped people with a wide variety of orthopaedic and sports-related injuries. He has also, during those years, been an accomplished amateur photographer, capturing poignant and breathtaking images during the world travels taken by him and his wife Valerie. Recently, those snapshots have been published in One World: A View of 50 Countries. But this is not your typical coffee table photography book.
All the proceeds from the sale of One World are being donated to the Himalayan Cataract Project, an organization that is restoring sight to those blinded by cataracts in underdeveloped countries. Founder Dr. Geoff Tabin is from Glencoe IL, and is a close friend of Dr. Lewis, who has great admiration for his achievements. "It is extraordinary to think that he has been responsible for 200,000 people having their vision restored", says Dr. Lewis, whose personal travels have often been tinged with altruism, such as working in a shantytown in South Africa and supporting the Refuseniks in Russia in the 1980s.
The Himalayan Cataract Project started in the Himalayan area to help individuals with cataracts, which has a higher incidence there due to the higher elevation and the accompanying higher UV rays. Unlike many of the world's problems, whose severity demands great financial resources to improve even slightly, those blinded by cataracts can be helped fairly easily. "It costs less than $40 to cure someone's blindness" (in other words, about $20 per eye) in countries such as Namibia and Nepal, says Dr. Lewis. The ability to see in non-industrial nations can mean the difference between abject poverty and sustenance. The HCP's impressive effectiveness comes from its methods: instead of swooping in with American volunteers, providing services and then leaving an area, HCP physicians such as Dr. Tabin, teach local physicians how to perform the surgery, donate materials and establish infrastructures that support the continuation of the service. The HCP has been consistently rated in the top 10% of all charities, with a high percentage of funds going directly to its beneficiaries. (To find out more about the Himalayan Cataract Project, click on www.cureblindness.org.)
Though Dr. Lewis's photographs have been previously published in various magazines and shown in several shows and exhibitions, One World is the first photography book he has published. Like many great art books. One World was published in China. At the time of publishing, Dr. Lewis did not anticipate the enthusiastic response to this book. The supply of 250 copies, which he had shipped to his home and which he intended to give out as presents to friends and acquaintances, quickly ran out as those friends and acquaintances started buying them up - ten or twelve at a time. The publisher was on backorder. When he approached Chestnut Court Bookstore in Winnetka, where he has a book signing on February 8th, the store manager quickly ordered 100 copies - an unusual reaction by a book retailer. The same thing happened at a Chicago Barnes & Noble store, except that the manager there ordered 115.
Because he has taken photographs for so long "for the joy of doing it", One World took less than six months to create from the wealth of great photographs that Dr. Lewis had accumulated. The harder part was coming up with the quotations, which came from his memory and with the help of his wife. Purchasing one copy of Dr. Lewis' book will fund the removal of cataracts in at least two eyes, and it is packed with images too moving for words. This beautiful book, made possible by one physician's creative vision, not only benefits those who cannot see, but enthralls those who can.
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