Blind Photographers
So, as a sort of revolution, I’m trying to become a little bit more active in my blogging. Instead of just posting photos, making my blog more informative and filling it with tidbits of things I find interesting. So, hopefully, every week or two, I can start posting something art-related.
Like this, for instance:
A documentary called “Dark Light” aired on HBO in November. I haven’t had a chance to see it, however, the focus is on blind photographers.
The documentary features three different blind photographers, who all use photography in different ways. For me, their different processes are part of what’s really intriguing.
Bruce Hall, a legally blind underwater photographer, uses photography to see and feature the relationship with his autistic sons. When he dives, he takes a camera in an underwater casing and shoots. His method of shooting is partly to help him see what he was seeing.
Pete Eckert, on the other hand, was completely blind when his interest in photography sparked. In fact, the first thing he states on his Web site is, “I didn’t take photography seriously until I was completely blind.” His work is some of the stuff that I find really fascinating, especially with the experiments in the dark that Kerri and I had been doing. The photos consist of light painting and ghosting, which capture my own heart. He goes about taking his photos in a fairly technical way – gauging the way the light will bounce through the vibrations he feels and focusing with a sort of focus bar.
Henry Butler is the third photographer featured in the documentary. A musician from New Orleans, Butler’s photographs are of interesting people and landscapes, often pointed out by a friend. Although, instead of just pointing and snapping he does compose the photos in a manner of speaking – he wants to know the distance between himself and the subject and the color scheme of the photo he is taking.
Last year, University of Southern California held an exhibit featuring blind photographers (including those listed above): Sight Unseen. One of the featured photographers that truly caught my attention was Kurt Weston, a former fashion photographer, who’d gone blind due to AIDS. Weston’s work now focuses on disease and life. Some of the work I found really interesting were the portraits created on a scanner or photocopier with the details of the lines and wrinkles on older folks’ faces. His self-portraits which interpret his feelings about becoming blind are pretty fascinating as well.
