Modern Eyes: A Vision Focused on Connection

On Washington Street in the heart of Norwood, there’s a striking storefront quite literally stopping people in their tracks every day.
 
With 26 linear feet of glass stretching across 696 Washington Street, Modern Eyes doesn’t just display eyewear, it creates an experience. The windows change with the seasons, featuring bold artistic concepts, unexpected materials, and large-scale designs that make six-inch eyeglass frames feel like centerpieces in a Fifth Avenue gallery. People walking by regularly pop in just to compliment the display. Some aren’t patients. Yet.
 
That storefront is more than marketing, it’s a reflection of the people behind it. Dr. Graham Stetson and Christina Stetson are partners in business, travel, community engagement, and share the belief that vision shapes how we experience the world.
 
A Practice Built on Purpose
 
Dr. Stetson didn’t open his own practice simply to hang his name on the door. He launched Modern Eyes because he believed patients deserved better.
 
“I wanted to provide the level of care I felt each patient truly needed,” he explains. In previous settings, time constraints and systemic limitations often reduced eye exams to quick prescription checks. For him, that was only scratching the surface.
 
To Dr. Stetson, eye care is deeply connected to overall health. He’s passionate about educating patients, not just diagnosing them. During exams, he walks patients through the “why” behind every test and conclusion. The goal is partnership, not passivity.
 
That philosophy extends beyond adults in the chair. One of his strongest passions is children’s vision. Throughout his career, Graham has seen how undiagnosed visual dysfunction can derail academic performance and limit career paths. He lectures school nurses and educators, raising awareness about how issues with binocular vision and visual processing can masquerade as ADHD or dyslexia.
 
“Reading letters on a chart is a small part of what the visual system does,” he says. “If a child’s visual system isn’t functioning properly, it can affect everything.”
 
The Business Brain and the Artist’s Eye
 
While Dr. Stetson focuses on clinical excellence, his wife, Christina, incorporates the patient’s perspective into the Modern Eyes strategic vision.
 
With more than 20 years in academic ophthalmology, she has seen “every way to run a clinic – and every way not to.” As a non-medical professional, Christina likes to view the experience through a patient’s lens. Accessibility, warmth, and communication became foundational pillars of Modern Eyes from day one.
 
“We hire ‘nice’ first,” she says, and that philosophy shapes the team culture built on care and connection.
 
Christina’s artistic instincts also drive the now-famous window displays. An artist at heart, she saw the massive storefront as a canvas. In an era where shopping has become transactional and digital, Modern Eyes offers something refreshing: a reason to walk downtown. Even those who never step inside leave smiling.
 
In a walkable, community-centered downtown like Norwood, that matters.
 
Community at the Core
 
The Stetsons are very active in the Norwood community, regularly participating in the local market in Norwood Center and various local events.
 
Christina is deeply involved in women-in-business initiatives and library programming. Originally from the Midwest – and by the way a HUGE football fan – she finds this pocket of Massachusetts uniquely welcoming.
 
“People talk to each other. People care about each other,” she says. “There’s something special about being an active, visible part of the community.”
 
That same community spirit inspired their popular travel series, Modern Eyes Places to See, featured monthly in Westwood Living. What began as a creative idea evolved into a reader favorite, blending their love of travel with practical recommendations and cultural storytelling.
 
Their journeys have taken them from Plymouth to Providence, North Adams to Naples, and most recently to Tuscany, where they experienced life at Villa Monarca in Italy. The experience was immersive, filled with local relationships and curated adventures.
 
Travel, for them, is about connection.
 
Looking Ahead
 
As healthcare continues to evolve, so does Modern Eyes.
 
Within the next two years, Dr. Stetson plans to add another doctor to expand patient access. Within five, he envisions opening a second location, replicating a model of care that is efficient, comprehensive, and superior to the “quick prescription check” norm.
 
Christina’s focus remains on awareness.
 
“Blurry vision might be the best thing that happens to you,” she says. “Because it gets you in the door. Many serious issues don’t have symptoms.”
 
Her advice is simple: get your eyes checked, whether at Modern Eyes or elsewhere. Protect your vision. It accounts for roughly 80% of how you perceive the world.
 
In the meantime, if you’re walking through downtown Norwood, slow down when you reach Washington Street. Take in the window. Step inside. You may walk out seeing the world a little more clearly, in more ways than one.
 

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