Facing up to life with paralysis

Sage Sohier photographed patients suffering from facial paralysis as they received treatment at a Boston clinic.
The photographs show the varying degrees of paralysis, which typically only occurs on one side of a person's face. It can result from Bell’s palsy, tumors, strokes, accidents, and congenital nerve damage.
Treatments often include physical therapy, Botox treatment and surgery.
The photographer captured many patients before they began treatment and was able to chronicle their advancement through treatment, in some cases.
She has compiled the portraits into a new 95-page book, About Face, that will be published this March by the University of Chicago Press.
'Through the influences of vanity, aging, and insecurities, many find fault with their own faces and few achieve their own notions of perfection. Yet, in the course of such self-criticism, most people take for granted their own ability to explore and employ the full range of facial expressions and the range of emotions those expressions convey,' the author states in a description of the book.