Someone recently joked about taking my photography classes even though he is completely blind. Even though it was initially meant as a joke, I wanted to let him know that this is not actually as impossible as it may sound! In recent years, there have been a number of photographers gaining recognition in the world for pursuing their art despite being blind. In some cases, the photographer has low-vision or is color blind; other individuals are legally-blind and have even been completely blind from birth, having never experienced the world in the same way as a seeing person. Nonetheless, the artistic spirit is strong with many such individuals and photography is their chosen medium. Below are a number of links I have found to various galleries and articles about blind photographers.
Sight Unseen: The California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside put on the first major museum exhibition of work by the most accomplished blind photographers in the world. Some of the biggest names in the industry exhibited at this 2009 event. TIME Magazine also ran a feature article about this exhibit.
Visions of a Blind Photographer: A New York Times article celebrating the work of Sonia Soberats.
Dark Light: The Art of Blind Photographers: An HBO documentary featuring several blind photographers who transcend their physical limitations.
Pete Eckert: One of the most well-known blind photographers. His website features his stunning photographic work and also describes his experience and process.
Completely Blind and Deaf Photographer Can Now ‘See’ His Own Work, Thanks to 3D Printing: Australian-based photographer Brendon Borellini experiences 3D representations of his photos. Check out the video at this link.
The Blind Photographers Flickr Pool: An open group for blind and otherwise visually-impaired photographers to share their work via the Flickr photo website.
Blind Photographers Documentary Crowdfunding Campaign: Fundraising effort for a new documentary on blind photographers across the globe.
Have another web resource about blind photographers? Please leave it in the comments and I will add them to the list as I can!
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There’s also a very active UK visually impaired photographers’ group;
https://www.flickr.com/groups/vi-uk/
Some photographers of note are; Flo Fox, tara Becker-miller, Alice Wingwall, Bruce Hall, Ken Keen, Tim O’Brien. They all have different approaches and subject matter, so there’s no standard blind photographer!
Thanks for letting us know about the UK group, Vince!