Originally published by Pigeon605 written by Steve Young

With his camera in hand and the landscapes of Sioux Falls spread out before him, photographer Cham Phan captures the familiar in exquisitely unfamiliar images, using light that no one can see.

Phan’s artistic genius taps into infrared light – a radiant energy invisible to the human eye that sets him apart from how other photographers go about their business. But there’s something else different about this 33-year-old, Vietnamese-born artist, too, something that makes him uniquely inspirational but also tragic among those whose work involves a camera lens.

Phan is going blind.

Roughly six years ago, the blood vessels in his retinas “just suddenly started erupting from high blood pressure,” he said. “Imagine that you’re looking through a glass of water, and it’s like droplets, black dots, start falling through the water and spreading. That’s what happened to me. I went blind.”

A diabetic whose affliction had gone undiagnosed for years, Phan was told by his ophthalmologist that he had diabetic retinopathy – an eye disease where high blood sugar levels cause blood vessels in the retina to swell, leak, even close and ultimately steal his vision.

Medical procedures helped restore a level of sight. But now, Phan has developed cataracts as well, and because of previous surgeries, he said he is unable to have the cataracts removed.

“So,” he said, “I’m going blind again.”

Against that backstory, what is a guy to do? Phan has a degree in global studies and political science at South Dakota State University and once thought about joining the Peace Corps and documenting his time there. But when that didn’t pan out, he turned to photography and videography, a passion he developed while at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.

A lot of what he did as a photographer was in fashion, boutique work and what he calls product work. He has worked as a videographer and in video production too. But the challenges of video work – long hours, intense lighting, the strain on his vision – finally forced him to walk away from it in March.

“It’s frustrating,” he admits. “I like video work. I want to hold a camera. I want to interview people. I want to create narratives. There are so many stories I want to tell when it comes to video, but I just can’t. I don’t doubt that I’d probably still be doing that if I was healthy enough.”

But he’s not healthy enough. So in what he calls a Hail Mary move to keep his career going, Phan pivoted in the past few months to infrared photography, but with a catch. Unless it’s cloudy outside, he captures images only when the sun is directly overhead so he never has to stare into it. And only when he’s wearing a big, floppy hat for protection.

His preferred subjects are architecture and landscapes – images that in many ways preserve the memories of his life growing up in this community.

His was a poor refugee family, Phan said, and there was turbulence and violence in the household. To escape it, he often would jump on his bike and go. He spent hours staring at St. Joseph Cathedral, either on his own or during recess during his days at Hawthorne Elementary. There were excursions to an old salvage yard where The Cascade now stands along North Phillips Avenue and to an antique store down the road from the penitentiary.

“There was a place called Bum Village that not a lot of people know about,” he said. “Bum Village is where I met a lot of my friends and met a lot of the transient community when I was a kid. I can remember going to Tower Park, walking through Bum Village, crossing the railroad tracks and then going to Falls Park so many times. So a lot of my photos are at the falls or along the river walk.”

While all those scenes – the falls, the Cathedral, the Arc of Dreams, the river walk and bike path – have been photographed ad nauseam, Phan is taking what he considers a different and unique approach. Again, for one thing, he relies on infrared, which allows him to manipulate the colors in the scenes, turning green foliage pink, white, gold and more.

Phan said he also tries to create a feeling of liminal space in his images. In other words, a state or place of transition between what was and what will be.

It could be landscapes with no sky, leaving the viewer to wonder where is the sky or why isn’t it there. He also likes to emphasize the idea of buildings or structures transitioning back to nature. By taking angles that frame architecture with foreground foliage, “I try to place that foliage strategically so it covers up part of the structure to make it look abandoned,” he said. “I imagine a scene of ‘What would this look like if it was abandoned … or if nature came out and reclaimed something that is empty?’”

Those who have seen his work are impressed. Phan recently dropped by Mayor Paul TenHaken’s office to leave him some prints. The two have been friends for four or five years. Phan had a podcast going at one time, and TenHaken was a guest. A few years back, the two also did a video spoof of the movie “The Fast and the Furious.”

“I’m a bit of an art snob myself. I mean, I love art,” TenHaken said. “And what Cham does is very unique. I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve seen so many pictures of some of these landscapes and some of these things in our community, but I’ve never seen them with this perspective and in this infrared style. He’s just a very talented young guy.”

As he likes to do in his role as mayor, TenHaken posted on his social media platforms about Phan coming in and presenting him with the prints and called out the young photographer’s website, champhan.com, where the works are listed for sale.

It certainly was a boost, Phan said, especially at a time when his medical issues were taking him into a dark place. He recently was diagnosed with stage 3B chronic kidney disease because of his diabetes. In time, that could mean he will need dialysis or a kidney transplant. He has heart issues as well and requires multiple medications. And he has no health insurance.

“I have no idea how I’m going to figure this out,” Phan said. “It’s been so hard.”

Yet, he insists, he remains optimistic – a glass not half-full but full, he said. A healthy diet and lifestyle hopefully will help slow the progression of his vision loss. In the meantime, he would like to get his unique photography into places that purchase artwork, like a resort, a hospital, a hotel or a tourism group.

“It is a Hail Mary, trying to push these photos and this art because I truly believe I’m on to something,” Phan said. “Anyone who sees them, they see something special. I like this quote that says, ‘Photography is making the familiar feel unfamiliar or the unfamiliar feel familiar.’ My goal is to make these landmarks in Sioux Falls that have been shot by thousands of photographers feel unfamiliar.”

Phan is succeeding at that, TenHaken insists, while scratching a creative itch in the process and creating his own artistic legacy. The mayor said he loves Phan’s passion for Sioux Falls and his desire to capture its landscapes in new and unique ways.

“I realize there are a ton of good photographers in our community, a ton of good artists. But Cham’s been dealt a unique hand,” TenHaken said. “I don’t think it’s even a financial thing as much as it is a validation of the work he’s doing. Like any of us, you want to know that ‘I’m noticed. I’m seen. My work is appreciated in the community.’”

All of that, Phan agrees. The possibility that his artistry might someday adorn the city is constantly recharging his soul, he said, even as his sight fades. Sure, it’s a Hail Mary hope. It may be overly optimistic too. But his vision for success is crystal clear today, he said, even if his eyesight isn’t. The sun is shining overhead. And the photographer is hard at work.