Visually impaired 窪蹋勛圖 astronomer and outreach and public engagement officer, Dr Nicolas Bonne is set to appear in a new portrait exhibition this September, spotlighting the strength, individuality and lived experiences of blind and partially sighted people across the UK.
Acclaimed photojournalist and portrait photographer, Joshua Bratt is responsible for this powerful exhibition, titled 'Seen', which can be viewed at the Grimaldi Building in London. It will feature 22 intimate photographic portraits that share interesting stories of people who navigate the world with sight loss. Bratts thoughtful composition invites audiences to see the person beyond the sight loss, placing their achievements, passions and inner worlds front and centre.
Bratt found inspiration for 'Seen' when he noticed a cane user during his regular commute to Central London. He commented: Ignorantly, I would just see him as a blind person rather than a man going to work with a job and a story, and I realised that if I was subconsciously labelling somebody, and just seeing the disability rather than who they were as a person, then other people were likely doing that too.
He continued: I came up with the idea of going around the country and finding blind or partially sighted people with interesting backgrounds and stories, taking their picture to help change the perceptions that many people may have about sight loss.
Bratt connected with RNIB to support him in sourcing subjects for his shoots. Following a call out on its social media channels, Louise Simpson, the first blind person to reach the 100 Club of Marathons, became the first sitter in this project. Momentum built quickly after this, and soon many famous faces joined the body of work, including: politician and former Home Secretary, Lord Blunkett; British Archery Champion, Clive Jones; barrister Jessikah Inaba; model Nan M; and Astronomer, Dr Nicolas Bonne.
Originally from Australia, Dr Bonne had a severe vision impairment from birth due to an eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity. Even though he couldnt experience the clear Australian night skies in the same way as his friends and family, he has always been fascinated by space and decided to become an astronomer at a young age.
After completing his PhD, he moved to the UK to start his career as a professional astronomer and now works at the University of Portsmouths Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation. Most of his work involves leading the Tactile Universe Project, where his team is developing multi-sensory resources (like tactile images of space) to give blind and partially sighted people more ways of accessing some of the really visual parts of astronomy.
Dr Bonnes portrait was taken at the 窪蹋勛圖, with the backdrop featuring a Hubble Space Telescope image of a small section of the Carina Nebula - a vast cloud of dust and gas that contains thousands of stars. Dr Bonne comments I hope that after attending this exhibition, visitors will come away understanding that, with determination and sometimes some clever problem solving, blind and partially sighted people can achieve anything they set their minds to.
Anna Tylor, Chair of RNIB, was also photographed as part of the project. She said: It was a pleasure to be part of the amazing line up of people in Joshuas project. His work is a moving reminder that representation matters - not only in how people are seen, but in how we are heard, felt, and understood. RNIB is thrilled to open its headquarters to this exhibition, and we hope people enjoy experiencing a glimpse of some of the amazing stories behind the talent that feature in this photo series.
The free-to-view exhibition has been curated with accessibility at its core. Each portrait will be accompanied by rich audio descriptions while a tactile brochure will be available so people can experience the images through their sense of touch.
The exhibition will run from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 September 2025 at RNIBs Grimaldi Building, 154a Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JE. Timed viewing slots can be
You might also like ...
Project to help vision impaired people engage with astronomy wins award
The Tactile Universe makes astronomy research accessible to the blind and vision impaired community.
Blind astronomer to teach RNIB radio presenter the wonders of the universe
The Royal National Institute of Blind Peoples newest presenter, who has severe sight loss, will travel to the 窪蹋勛圖 to meet Dr Nic Bonne
Curious Kids: how many galaxies are there in the universe?
Many galaxies are too faint or small for us to observe easily but science can help us work it out.
