A veteran who lost most of his sight when he was shot through the face by a sniper while on active service says he is proud to have his portrait displayed in London as part of a military charity campaign.
Simon Brown was shot while he was leading a mission to recover six stranded colleagues in Iraq in 2006.
He has teamed up with Blind Veterans UK, which has displayed portrait photographs of nine veterans with sight-loss, including Mr Brown, on digital screens across London.
Through the campaign, which takes place on Armed Forces Day, the charity is paying its respects to ex-servicemen and women who lost their sight while fighting for their country.
“Remembrance is an important time of year when we commemorate those we’ve lost,” Mr Brown said.
“Armed Forces Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate those who are still with us and put themselves in danger to protect us.
“These portraits highlight both the tragedy and triumph of our veterans in service and recovery.
“I’m proud to be a part of this campaign to show service personnel and veterans that we’ll be here for them when they need us.”
Photographer Richard Cannon, who took the portraits, said it was “an honour” to be involved, describing the men and women as heroes.
“It was an honour to photograph these heroes who gave so much for their country,” he said.
“When deciding on how to approach the portraits of the blind veterans, I wanted to give them a sense of pride and presence in the final image.
“So I shot them slightly below the eyeline to give them a more powerful look. The viewer will then get a sense of respect and admiration for these brave individuals.”
Out-of-home advertising specialist Oohyes and media owner London Lites supported Blind Veterans UK to have the portraits displayed across the digital screens.
The stories of those in the photographs can be viewed on the charity’s website https://www.blindveterans.org.uk/news-stories/veterans-stories/blinded-in-combat-a-photography-exhibition/.
