The Man Behind the Paintings: An Interview with Terry Tarrant, Ophthalmic Artist

27 September 2018

Anybody who has seen an original fundus or external eye painting by Terry Tarrant will marvel at the skill of this exceptionally talented medical artist.

This filmed interview took place in the UCL joint library at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London in 2018

The interview reveals Terry’s humble background and how he came to take up ophthalmic medical illustration as a career. It tells how he became the key artist for many of the ophthalmologists of the 1960s and 70s. He describes the process he used to create the finished painting.

He spent many years at the Institute of Ophthalmology in Judd Street before continuing his work at the Holborn branch of Moorfields Eye Hospital. In retirement he continued to see patients until a few years ago.

Apart from his paintings of the fundus and external eye, Terry contributed illustrations of instruments and surgical procedures to many text books on ophthalmology.