Fernando Dávila, a 72-year-old artist, has been using special glasses since the mid-1980s to overcome his colorblindness and create vibrant paintings that have been exhibited internationally. Dávila, who is originally from Colombia and now works from his studio in a Miami suburb, discovered he was colorblind at the age of eight after failing a drawing class for painting donkeys red.

Colorblindness, a congenital condition, makes it difficult for individuals to distinguish between certain colors, particularly red and green, and shades of color. For Dávila, this also meant confusion with pink, violet, turquoise, and yellow-green. This condition led him to initially paint only in black and white until he was around 30 years old. "I have the most wonderful job in the world, which is painting every morning," Dávila said. "To mix colors. To have joy to share with the world, that's really my passion."

The glasses Dávila uses were developed by an ophthalmologist in New York, where he was living at the time. The glasses feature one transparent lens and one shaded red lens, which help him differentiate between contrasting shades. While there is no cure for colorblindness, these glasses have allowed Dávila to access nearly two-thirds of the color spectrum, enabling him to pursue his passion for painting in color. His work has been displayed in South America, Europe, and the United States.