How she sees the light in the world – Boston Globe

Sometimes her eyes can see but her brain can’t process the images. Sometimes she sees “blobs of color.” She has no depth or peripheral vision. On bad days, other obstacles combine to make seeing “sometimes impossible.”

At times like these, photography is a blessing.

“With a camera, you can see things that you can’t see with the real eye,” says Caruso, 27.

She is a transracial adopted child from China. She may not be 5 feet tall, but she is a dynamo, a CVI, a disability advocate, and passionate about making a difference.

She studied photography at Mass University of Art and Design and graduated in 2025.

There in the dark room, she couldn’t see in the dark. She crashed into a trash can once and was unable to breathe due to photochemicals and asthma.

“I felt like I was choking,” she says.

Still, she persevered to become a photographer and artist.

When people learn that she is a visually impaired/blind photographer, they look at her strangely.

“That’s exactly what people do to me when your pet looks up at you after you do something really stupid like run into a wall,” she said with a smile. Caruso usually uses a white cane to walk, and although he was embarrassed to use it at first, he now loves it. She calls it Xi Xi.

Caruso was 11 months old when he came to the Boston area. At age 6, she was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and nystagmus, an eye disease.

Doctors did not diagnose her CVI until she was 19 years old.

She wrote a poem about it. “How I See the World” (edited)

Imagine being blind for decades. Imagine no one believing you are blind. Imagine not being able to process the world around you. Imagine that never happens.

When I wake up every morning, I feel like I’m on a movie set. Your life is a horror movie and you can’t escape. Everything, everything, everything is abstract. Nothing makes sense. I can see with my eyes, but I can’t see with my brain.

Why a horror movie?

“Because it’s like we’re walking with a VR (virtual reality) headset on and trying to cross the busiest street, like Mass Avenue,” she says.

“Your eyes can see, but your brain cannot recognize your surroundings. I can’t recognize people’s faces. you are alone In your world. Even though I feel misunderstood, I reach for the camera.

Call it how you see the world. Your camera becomes your eyes. Gradually, you begin to see the world around you, and each photo you take is completely new. Although I’m excited, the world slowly opens up to me through the photos I take. I’m obsessed with photography.

Photography is something you can control. You become one with the camera. You are in control. Photography provides a tool to escape horror movies.

Caruso’s incredible initiative has earned her considerable support.

She has appeared twice on the popular TV series Love on the Spectrum and has around 60,000 followers on Instagram. Before Caruso’s first Veep Baseball game at Fenway Park, she checks the equipment. Sometimes the camera settings are not visible. For now, she can do it.

“I have to clean my camera. I don’t know how I got chocolate on it,” she says.

One of her mentors, celebrity photographer and Shot@Love podcaster Kelly Brett, gives her a pep talk outside Fenway.

“Tina, you are an international star, you are an influencer, you have millions of downloads. So you have a lot of value and a lot of power digitally online. And people love you.”

Whether it’s in the bleachers or on the field, people want selfies and hug her.

“She’s an inspiration. I saw her in ‘Love on the Spectrum.’ I’m a big fan of her and hers,” says Gina Devinish, coach of the Boston Renegades, one of Fenway Park’s teams. “I just wanted a little moment to say ‘hello’ to my fangirls.”

Caruso also greeted Achilles International coach Joe Lumar, who connects runners with guides. On Saturday, she completed the Boston Athletic Association 5K.

“She is an inspiring, shining light who continues to make the world a better place every day I am alive and see her,” says Lemar, a 1992 Barcelona Summer Paralympic gold medalist.

Caruso’s photographic work was published locally and he sold several fine art prints. However, she is still looking for work in photography and advocacy for non-governmental organizations.

“We want to show blind people that they don’t have to live in a box where rehabilitation services always tell them to go to some stock shelf,” she says.

She’s most proud of photos from the 2020-2021 “Stop Asian Hate” demonstrations in Boston, a time when anti-Asian hostility was on the rise.

“I want to make a difference for marginalized groups, like people with disabilities and the Asian American community, especially the disabled community,” she says.

In May, Mr. Caruso will receive the inaugural Embrace Award honoring Henry Om Dow, the first Chinese-American to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar Association.

The award celebrates “the strength, resilience, advocacy, and courage of our (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community to bring our strengths to the forefront.”

The Red Sox have asked her to throw the ceremonial first pitch at their AAPI Night celebration on May 1, and she is considering throwing underhand.

During a Beep Baseball game, Caruso uses two cameras, one telephoto and one wide-angle. On sunny days, her eyesight is better as long as she doesn’t look toward the sun. She lets loose on the shoot and later blows up the images.

She can empathize with athletes who have varying degrees of visual impairment.

Some people wear blindfolds to play evenly with people with poor eyesight. The ball beeps and the base (soft foam cylinder) makes a noise. Some runners jump in and you can take some good photos.

Caruso anticipates this and takes action. Then she runs up to the partially sighted athlete with a contagious smile.

“I took a great photo of you,” Caruso said enthusiastically. “I’m a blind photographer.”

“Oh, that’s amazing. That’s amazing…that’s great,” says Chris Kimball, who works at Fidelity when he’s not playing for the Boston Renegades.

Their joy is even greater than when the three Red Sox outfielders gather and hug after a win.

Kimball is happier for Caruso than he is for himself.

“To this day, I am amazed that visually impaired people can do anything that others can do. … If you don’t let things get in your way, and you have the mindset to not take no for an answer, you can do amazing things. And that’s incredible.”

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Stan Grossfeld can be reached at stanley.grossfeld@globe.com.