Whoever first said, “the eyes are the windows to the soul” — maybe it was Cicero, maybe da Vinci, maybe the Bible, perhaps Shakespeare, or, for all we know, Peter Gabriel — was definitely on to something.

Eyes aren’t just two shiny orbs we use to avoid bumping into furniture. They’re how humans bridge the dizzying distance between strangers. A glance can carry a conversation without words, share secrets without sound, reveal lifetimes without explanation.

Eyes invite us in, dare us to look closer, stay longer and understand better.

Human understanding is exactly what Dr. Carey Candrian aims to foster in her exhibition, “Eye to Eye: Portraits of Pride, Strength, Beauty.” The exhibit, on view at the Museum of Boulder, features powerful, starkly beautiful black-and-white portraits of older LGBTQ+ women who have lived much of their lives in silence. These women have stories that haven’t always been welcome and whose identities have often made them feel invisible or misunderstood.

The exhibit occupies a tidy, quiet gallery within the Museum of Boulder, where nearly three dozen intimate black-and-white portraits of LGBTQ+ women aged 59 to 85 years old line the walls. The images themselves are straightforward and modest — nothing shiny — but their emotional weight resonates far beyond their simple frames. The exhibit was, after all, designed specifically with simplicity in mind.

“My goal was to keep things as simple as possible, using black-and-white colors, uniform sizing, and minimal distractions,” Candrian said. “I wanted each woman’s expression to speak for itself, without extra noise or embellishments. That’s why I chose black-and-white photography. It strips everything down to the essentials, letting the focus remain on the individuals and their stories.”

All of the portraits on display are hung at eye level, Candrian said.

“When visitors walk through the exhibit, they’re literally meeting these women eye to eye,” Candrian said. “That design choice was intentional so that a sense of direct connection is created between the viewer and the subject.”

One portrait, in particular, stands out. Joan and Nancey, two women featured side-by-side, appear relaxed, yet resolute, gently leaning into each other. Their eyes are shielded by sunglasses, but their message is clear and poignant in a quote beneath their portrait:

“Our life wish is that there would be retirement communities for us LGBT people. We don’t want to die with bags over our heads.”

The words are stark, emphasizing the vulnerabilities that LGBTQ+ elders face within systems meant to support them — something that Candrian has spent years working to address.

Candrian, an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ health equity, was inspired to create “Eye to Eye” after she recognized a troubling disconnect while doing research.

While training assisted living facilities on how to better support queer patients, Candrian noticed that data alone wasn’t breaking through. Numbers on a slideshow didn’t truly illustrate the lived experiences of older LGBTQ+ adults, people whose lives have often been marked by isolation, stigma, and fear.

“I’d present data showing how deeply discrimination impacts LGBTQ+ older adults, but the people in these facilities — who saw LGBTQ+ individuals every day — weren’t making the connection,” Candrian said.

She knew photographs might succeed where statistics had failed — inviting viewers to truly meet these women, look them in the eye, and finally see their humanity.

“As someone both within the community and studying it, I found it exhausting to keep hearing harmful, reductive stories and stereotypes about queer people,” Candrian said. “I wanted to challenge that by sharing a broader range of experiences. That allowed people to see what the numbers couldn’t show. It’s hard to see beauty, courage and resilience in graphs and data.”

But the data is still important — and heartbreaking — to consider. According to Candrian and her research, there are 2.4 million LGBTQ+ older adults living in the U.S. today, and 76% of them fear they won’t have adequate support as they age. Many face discrimination in senior care settings, with no legal protections ensuring their safety and dignity.

The subject of one of the portraits in “Eye to Eye,” Janelle, voiced her concerns about aging as a transgender woman. Adjacent to her portrait reads:

“I have concerns about hospice. I’m worried things will be outside of my control. I still have to shave. I don’t want hair on my face when I die.”

It’s a small request, but one that holds so much weight. “Eye to Eye” emphasizes that the ability to live — and die — with dignity shouldn’t be a privilege. It also poses a necessary question: How do we create a world where growing old with dignity, respect and love is not something that LGBTQ+ seniors have

to fight for?

The exhibit fits seamlessly into the Museum of Boulder’s broader mission of inclusivity, joining current exhibitions like “Bending the Arc” and “Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History” — both dedicated to illuminating narratives that have too often been pushed to the margins.

For museum staff, “Eye to Eye” felt like a natural extension of that work, a chance to amplify voices that deserve to be heard.

“You never know the full story of the person you’re looking at, but you can bet it’s rich, layered and meaningful,” said Elizabeth Nosek, curator at the Museum of Boulder. “If you take the time to look closely, these stories can help build and strengthen our community.”

“Eye to Eye” is on view at the Museum of Boulder through April 20. The museum is hosting a free (donations are welcome) opening reception from 3-5 p.m. March 29, inviting visitors to spend some time with these women who spent their lives being told to stay silent.

And if we couldn’t hear them before, perhaps “Eye to Eye” will allow us to at least see them.

Also on display at Museum of Boulder: “Bending the Arc: A Uniquely Boulder Story of LGBTQ+ Rights” dives into a groundbreaking moment in LGBTQ+ history — Boulder’s role in one of the country’s first-ever legal same-sex marriages.

On display through Sept. 29, the exhibit marks the 50th anniversary of six marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in 1975 by County Clerk Clela Rorex. The Colorado Attorney General ordered Rorex to stop before she could issue more licenses, but this bold move put Boulder decades ahead of the national conversation on marriage equality.

In partnership with Rocky Mountain Equality, the exhibit explores the activism, risks and political shake-ups that shaped LGBTQ+ rights in Colorado and beyond.