Learning photography from my “blind” companion
October 2, 2009
As a high school student, I had a close friend who was blind. We’d often visit museums together, and both of us received permission to touch the sculptures. I was her starting guide, sharing my visual organization in a physical way so that she could then experience through touch something of what I took in at first glance. Of course she could have explored any one of the sculptures completely on her own, slowly building up a very complete picture. But in our sensory collaboration she could translate my “glance” into her world. My visual ordering was helpful to her.
What a wonderful training for dance photography! I had to become conscious of what I was seeing, and had to express that vision clearly. What I experienced in a glance and shared by my movement my friend would take in through a much more lengthy sequential process. What dancers express through their movements over time I now express in a number of static images.
Working with my blind friend Jane, I was, in effect, saying to her,
“Here … look at this!” It might have been a texture, a form, a hole
surrounded by matter, but, whatever it was, my guiding her to take it in as
one whole helped her perceive it. She was informed by my “at a
glance” perceptions — although she was not bound by them.
Today, when I take a picture and exhibit it, I’m really saying, “Here … look at this!”. Perhaps my vision, and my passion, can inform yours.
What a heart touching article, Arthur? Have no words for your helpfulness towards your friend Jane.
While I appreciate the sentiment, I should emphasize my theme here — That Jane helped me to “see” at least as much as I might have helped her!
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