Photographer Vanessa Vettorello explores the physical and psychological impact of strabismus, or eye misalignment, through her visual project "Wandering Star." Drawing from her personal childhood experience with diplopia (double vision), Vettorello combines intimate portraits of others living with the condition, medical reportage, and reconstructed memories to illustrate the struggle of navigating a world where depth and distance are distorted.
This project matters because it sheds light on a common yet misunderstood medical condition that affects roughly 4% of the global population. By moving beyond clinical diagnosis to examine how visual divergence shapes identity and social interaction, Vettorello’s work provides a rare aesthetic language for a sensory experience that is often suppressed or hidden, highlighting the profound link between how we see and how we are seen by others.